Posted on : 11/17/2019

During the last week of October, 29 members of delegations from four countries, specifically Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia, Moldova, and Ukraine, stayed in Serbia for a five-days study visit. The study visit was organised by the energy team of the UNDP in Serbia in cooperation with local UNDP offices, in order to present to the study visit participants the Energy Management System which has been successfully implemented in Serbia for more than three years. The delegation consisted of representatives of relevant national institutions in the energy sector (ministries, funds, agencies, energy advisors, etc.) active in their respective countries in the related areas.  

The first day of the study visit was organised at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Belgrade, where the study visit participants were welcomed by the representatives of the Ministry of Mining and Energy, Mr. Miloš Banjac, assistant minister, and Ms. Antonela Solujić, head of energy efficiency department, Predrag Elek, the vice-dean for international cooperation of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, and Ms. Irena Popović on behalf of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). After the welcoming introduction, three presentations were made by Ms. Antonela Solujić and Ms. Maja Matejić, UNDP energy portfolio manager, presenting the legislative and institutional framework of the Energy Management System and the training scheme for training and licencing of future energy managers. The presentations were followed by a tour of the laboratory for training of energy managers which JICA donated to the Republic of Serbia, where the participants saw the most relevant installations (the boiler, pumps, compression unit, etc.) and the exercises delivered to training participants. The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Belgrade is the institution which has been nominated by the Ministry of Mining and Energy as the authorised institution for training of energy managers and energy auditors. After the laboratory, the participants visited the fully automated sub-station and heard about the project of rehabilitation of the district heating system within the building of the Faculty.

The second day of the study visit was organised at the premises of the UN House in New Belgrade. The participants were welcomed by the UNDP Resident Representative in Serbia, Ms. Francine Pickup, which was the beginning of the second day and the working part commenced. The key topic was the Energy Management Information System (EMIS). Presentations were delivered by Ms. Maja Matejić and Mr. Dragan Urošević, EMIS administrators. All stages of adaptation and development of the EMIS in Serbia were presented, along with the newly developed modules and reporting templates. Mr. Miloš Krivokuća and Mr. Hrvoje Tonkovič, IT administrators of the EMIS, presented the details regarding installation, hosting and maintenance of the software application. During the afternoon different experiences from the region were presented. First, Ms. Iva Fakin, manager of the EMIS department of the Croatian Property Agency presented the ten-year results of implementing the EMIS in Croatia, after which Ms. Arnesa Borčak, programme associate of UNDP in BiH, presented the project within which BiH is using the Energy Management Information System (EMIS).

The third day of the study visit was organised in Pančevo. The day was hosted by the City of Pančevo, where the participants were welcomed by a member of the City Council, Ms. Katarina Banjai. Ms. Biljana Đordan, the City of Pančevo energy manager, presented the impressive results of the energy management system achieved so far in Pančevo, particularly with respect to automated data collection for the EMIS and implementation of the project for energy efficiency in public buildings which are under the competences of the City. The next presentation was made by Mr. Zoran Božanić, technical director of PUC „District Heating“, presenting many years of efforts to reconstruct the city district heating system and to increase energy efficiency through fully automated system management. The participants had the opportunity to see the unique project to install thermo-solar collectors for heating of utility hot water from the district heating system. After these presentations, the participants visited the heating plant „Kotež“, where the boiler facilities were demonstrated along with the thermo-solar collector field. 

The fourth day of the study visit was spent in the City of Novi Sad. The visit was hosted by the Energy Agency of the City of Novi Sad in the „Master Centre“ of the Novi Sad Fair, where the participants were welcomed by Mr. Milorad Radojević, member of the City Council in charge of economy.  This was followed by presenting the promotional video by Mr. Mladen Konjović, technical associate of Agency, on the activities implemented by the Energy Agency of the City of Novi Sad. The participants also heard the one-hour presentation by the energy manager of the City of Novi Sad, on the Energy Management System of the City of Novi Sad, including examples of best practice of energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources in Novi Sad. 

The next part of this day was a visit to the Public Utility Company „Novi Sad District Heating“ – heating facility „West“, presenting the operation of the enterprise and the co-generation plant, by Mr. Dušan Macura, head of the department for production and distribution of thermal energy. The participants saw the modern co-generation plant producing thermal energy of 10 MW capacity and electricity of 10 MW capacity, which is fed to the grid of the Power Industry of Serbia under the feed-in-tariff scheme.

The study visit participants also visited the Secondary Electrotechnical School „Mihajlo Pupin“, where they were welcomes the school principal, Mr. Milan Vukobrat, and professor Mr. Jovo Pavlović, who demonstrated the operation of the „Energy Monitor“, exhibiting in real time the energy and fuels consumption data for the school (water, electricity, heat). Professor Mr. Saša Skoko demonstrated the laboratory classroom with different equipment and systems related to renewable energy sources and energy efficiency and their utilisation (solar collectors, photovoltaic panels, solar trackers, mini wind generator, biomass boiler, thermovision camera, led lighting, etc.).

The day ended with the visit to the Dormitory for Pupils „Brankovo kolo“ in Novi Sad, where the participants were addressed by Director Jasmina Švonja, after which Mr. Aleksandar Ašonja delivered a presentation of the facility for preparation of utility hot water based on solar collectors initially installed in this building in 2011, and rehabilitated and starting operation again in 2018. 

The study tour participants spent the last day of the study visit in Belgrade, as guests of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, where they were welcomed by Mr. Miroslav Lutovac, advisor of the Chamber President, who briefly presented the activities of the Chamber related to promoting the energy management system. This was followed by a lecture on the Energy Managers’ Network and the commissioner for energy management of the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) by Mr. Miodrag Gluščević, Programme director for urban development, environment and utilities. The lecture presented the objectives, the programme and the organisation of the network and details of how it functions, as well as results achieved so far through the Network. The participants were then familiarised with the energy management Help Desk“ within the Ministry of Mining and Energy, the key purpose of which is to provide continued technical support to energy managers and users of the Energy Management Information System. The functioning of the Help Desk was presented by Ms. Anđela Miljović, UNDP associate. After the presentation, Ms. Maja Matejic demonstrated the automatic data acquisition from the meter in the building of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and data transfer to the EMIS and the „Energy Monitor“.

After each presentation and visiting of facilities, and in the course of informal discussions, participants had the opportunity to ask questions and exchange information with their colleagues. The interactive nature of the study visit and the hospitality of the hosts contributed to the positive impressions by the study tour participants of their visit to Serbia.