BIOENERGY IN THE SEE REGION
BIOENERGY IN PRIMARY ENERGY SUPPLY Bioenergy constitutes a significant proportion of the TPES of the SEE region. In 2017, it exceeded 6% in all the cases and reached 20% in the Republic of Moldova (Figure 4.2). The supply of bioenergy is dominated by solid biomass which accounts for most of total bioenergy supply. Apart from that, biogas, municipal solid waste and biofuel make a small contribution (Figure 4.2).BIOENERGY IN ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION The generation of electricity from biomass in the region grew significantly between 2007, when production only occurred in Croatia and Slovenia and amounted to 156 GWh, and 2017 when it totalled 1 906 GWh and was more widely distributed (Figure 4.3). Growth has been concentrated in countries within the EU, with few developments in EnC Contracting Parties. However, biomass generation still only makes a small contribution to overall electricity supply, equal to 0.8%.
More than 84% of bioelectricity in the region is produced in cogeneration plants.
BIOENERGY FOR HEAT
Bioenergy plays an important role as a direct source of heat for residential buildings, and also makes a smaller contribution in industry. It also contributes to the fuels used in DH in some cases and thus makes an additional contribution in buildings and in industry.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).
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Figure 4.2 Contribution of bioenergy to TPES, SEE, 2017Source: IRENA (2019a)
Bioenergy Non-Bioenergy
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Slovenia Serbia Romania North Macedonia Montenegro
Republic of Moldova Kosovo*
Croatia Bulgaria Bosnia and Herzegovina
Albania
10 PJ
19 PJ 56 PJ
55 PJ 16 PJ 10 PJ 8 PJ
32 PJ
169 PJ 46 PJ
30 PJ
Figure 4.3 Electricity generation from biomass by power plant type, SEE, 2017 (GWh)
0 200 300
100 400 500 600
Montenegro
Kosovo* Slovenia
Albania Bosnia and
Herzegovina Republic
of Moldova Croatia North
Macedonia Serbia
Bulgaria Romania
Power only CHP
6
396
525
52 23
525
80
299
Source: IRENA (2019a)
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).
Figure 4.4 Contribution of bioenergy to total residential energy demand, SEE, 2017
Source: IRENA (2019a)
Bioenergy Non-Bioenergy
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Slovenia Serbia Romania North Macedonia Montenegro
Republic of Moldova Kosovo*
Croatia Bulgaria Bosnia and Herzegovina Albania
(%)
5 PJ
15 PJ 32 PJ
46 PJ
14 PJ 6 PJ 30 PJ 9 PJ
128 PJ 34 PJ
19 PJ
Residential sectorIn the region, bioenergy is primarily used for heating in the residential sector, which in 2017 accounted for 80% of total bioenergy use. Bioenergy provided 40%
of residential heating demand in 2017 and over 50%
in Kosovo*, Montenegro and North Macedonia (see Figure 4.4); the proportion remains high in all other cases.
The use of solid biomass in the residential sector is mostly in inefficient cooking and heating appliances that are a major source of local air pollution and of health problems (World Bank, 2017). Improving the access to clean solutions for cooking and heating is a priority under the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All Initiative. In the focus economies, there are still many households lacking clean energy access (for example access to electricity, gas or modern efficient biomass systems) – over 30% in some cases (Figure 4.5).
This compares to the situation in Ukraine, where only 4% of the households lack access to clean cooking.
In the EU-28, only four EU countries have a lack of access figure above 0%: 7% in Estonia, 5% in Latvia, 4% in Greece and 3% in the Czech Republic (World Bank, 2019).
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).
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04
Figure 4.5 Share of households without access to clean cooking solutions, 2010 and 2016Note: no data for Kosovo*.
Source: World Bank (2019) 0%
10%
20%
40%
30%
50%
Albania Bulgaria Croatia Republic Romania Serbia
Moldovaof Bosnia and
Herzegovina North
Macedonia Slovenia
Montenegro
2010 2016
Industry
Bioenergy also contributes to industrial heating needs, ranging from 0.2% in the Republic of Moldova to nearly 10% in Bulgaria, where the paper and pulp industry play an important role.
District heating
DH still plays a significant role in the energy economy the SEE region, except for Albania and Montenegro. DH systems provide energy for both residential heating and for industrial purposes. The proportion of residential heating provided by DH is around 10%, with 15% in Bulgaria, 14% Serbia and 8.5% in the Republic of Moldova
(IRENA, 2019a). Many DH systems in the region are reported to be in poor condition with high distribution losses and low overall efficiency (Robić, 2016).
DH provides a significant opportunity to use biomass fuels either in stand-alone operation or co-fired with fossil fuels such as coal.
The proportion of the total DH currently supplied by biomass fuels ranges from zero to almost 12%
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 15% in Croatia and over 17% in Slovenia (Figure 4.6). Switching more DH systems to biomass fuels in conjunction with system refurbishment and efficiency improvements may be a priority opportunity for increasing bioenergy use in some cases.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).
Figure 4.6 Contribution of bioenergy to district heating, SEE, 2017
Source: IRENA (2019a)
Bioenergy Non-Bioenergy
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Romania Bulgaria
Serbia Croatia
Republic of Moldova Bosnia and Herzegovina
North Macedonia
Slovenia Kosovo*
0.67 PJ 0.57 PJ
1.82 PJ
0.02 PJ 2.08 PJ 0.14 PJ
1.58 PJ
BIOENERGY FOR TRANSPORT
All the SEE economies have a commitment (under the RED or as part of the EnC Treaty requirements) to meet 10% of transport fuel needs by 2020 from renewable sources, and biofuels are the most promising way to meet these requirements. Currently, biofuels play a role in the transport sector in only three of the focus economies. Bioethanol is used in Bulgaria and Romania, and biodiesel in Albania, Bulgaria and Romania.
In Albania, 3.2 PJ of imported biofuel was used in the road transport sector in 2017, blended with 31.3 PJ of conventional diesel fuel. This supply has been developed rapidly (starting in 2014 and
doubling between 2015 and 2016). This amount is however not counted toward the 2020 target as Albania has not introduced sustainability regime and a certification scheme for biofuels (EnC, 2019b).
In Bulgaria, 6.7 PJ of biofuels were used in the transport sector in 2016, providing 4.9% of transport energy demand, and 4 PJ of biofuels were produced domestically.
In Romania, 12.5 PJ of biofuels were used in the transport sector in 2017, providing 4.8% of transport energy needs, and 58% of the biofuel was produced domestically.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).
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