Empowering Belgrade with clean energy from waste
This case study is about the Vinča project in Belgrade, converting an old landfill into a clean energy facility.
About
Challenges:
The Vinča Landfill Gas and Energy from Waste facilities project is designed to address several critical environmental and infrastructure challenges in Belgrade:
- The old Vinča landfill has been a significant source of pollution for decades, with leachate contaminating groundwater and the nearby Danube River. The landfill also lacked modern systems for gas collection and leachate treatment, leading to uncontrolled methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas.
- The uncontrolled waste at the Vinča landfill has posed serious health risks to the local population due to the emission of harmful gases and the potential for groundwater contamination.
- Belgrade’s growing population has led to increased waste generation, which the old landfill could no longer manage effectively.
Solutions
The project aims to mitigate these risks by:
Rehabilitating the old landfill and constructing new, sanitary waste management facilities. The new facilities are designed to handle municipal, construction, and demolition waste more efficiently, reducing the city’s reliance on landfill disposal and increasing recycling rates.
Convert non-recyclable waste into electricity and heat, contributing to the city’s energy mix and supporting its sustainability goals.
Including a new EU-compliant sanitary landfill, a facility for recycling construction and demolition waste, and a system for collecting and utilizing landfill gas.
Impacts
- The core of the project is a waste-to-energy plant with a capacity of 103 MW, which began operations in phases from 2023, and is designed to process 340,000 tons of waste annually. The facility will produce both electricity (30 MW) and thermal energy (56 MW), contributing to the local grid and district heating systems, and supplying power to approximately 5% of Belgrade’s households while providing heat for 10% of the city’s needs.
- The project also includes the remediation of the old Vinča landfill, which has been in operation since the 1970s and has accumulated over 10 million tons of waste. This landfill posed significant environmental risks, including pollution of the Danube River. The remediation efforts are part of a broader plan to align with EU environmental standards, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 250,000 tons of CO2 annually.
- The project is being carried out under a 25-year PPP agreement between the City of Belgrade and Beo Čista Energija, a consortium consisting of Suez (France), Itochu Corporation (Japan), and the European Marguerite Fund. The project, with a total investment of around €370 million, is financed by multiple international lenders, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).