Warm solutions to decades-(c)old problem in Banja Luka
District heating system overhaul set to save millions of euros in heating costs,
thousands of CO₂ emissions each year
Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 21 January 2016 – A new project to overhaul
a city district heating system could save up to 20,000 tons of CO₂ each year and
€4.5 million in heating costs.
The new project launched in Banja Luka’s City Hall today will feed into an action plan
for securing major efficiency gains for the city’s district heating system, bringing both
financial and climate benefits.
Banja Luka’s heating network - the second-largest in Bosnia and Herzegovina experiences significant losses during energy transport and end-use. Boilers used in the
heating system currently have an average age of 35 years and lose up to 60% of
generated heat, while poor insulation means that up to 40% of heat supplied is then lost
in the district’s buildings. These inefficiencies generate unnecessary costs to the City
Administration and its District Heating Company, (‘Toplana’) and are a significant
contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
To tackle the problem, the City requested help from the Climate Technology Centre and
Network (CTCN) with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP).
The project will conduct city-wide mapping of the energy flow in the heating system and
identify leaks using an unmanned aerial drone equipped with a thermal camera. The
potential efficiency gains discovered would feed into an action plan for modernising the
heating system, which will cover investments that could be made together with social
and regulatory improvements.
District heating is one of the biggest sources of GHG emissions in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Initial calculations demonstrate that modernising the heating network
could reduce fuel consumption by 27% or 4,500 tons of crude oil each year corresponding to a reduction of 20,000 tons of CO₂ each year and €4.5m in fuel cost
savings for the City. Were the heating system to eventually be made fully renewable, a
total of 80,000 tons of CO₂ would be saved each year and one third of Banja Luka would
receive heat from green sources.
Banja Luka is receiving assistance as one of the first pilot cities of the UNEP-led Global
District Energy in Cities Initiative which is supporting national and municipal
governments in their efforts to develop, retrofit or scale up district energy systems. The
Initiative, through its network of partners, will provide Banja Luka with best practice
guidance and support, in particular linking Banja Luka with champion cities of district
energy such as Paris, Helsinki or Tokyo, and with replication potential for other cities
throughout the region.
“Crude oil is too expensive, irrational and ecologically unacceptable to be used for
district heating and this should be avoided,” said Mr Gavranovic, Mayor of Banja Luka.
“This is an urgent issue and we need to bring forward a development strategy to tackle
the problem as soon as possible,” he underlined.
“This project is a real-life example of how actions for tackling climate change, improving
people’s lives and saving money go hand-in-hand, while implementing the new Paris
Agreement on the ground,” said Mr Jan Dusik, Director of UNEP Regional Office for
Europe. “UNEP looks forward to cooperating with the City of Banja Luka and ‘Toplana’
through its technical services and ideas for action,” he added.
“The Climate Technology Centre & Network serves as a bridge to essential knowledge,
technical assistance, and financing in order to reach climate and development objectives.
We are very glad to work on this project in Bosnia and Herzegovina and through this
partnership we hope that modernising the district heating network will significantly
increase energy efficiency in the City of Banja Luka,” said CTCN Director Jukka
Uosukainen.
Today’s working meeting was organised by the City of Banja Luka with the support of
UNEP and under the auspices of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Civil Engineering and
Ecology of Republika Srpska.
The meeting was attended by Banja Luka’s Mayor, Mr Slobodan Gavranovic; the
Assistant Minister of Spatial Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology of Republika
Srpska, Ms Svjetlana Radusin, who is also the UNFCCC Focal Point for Bosnia and
Herzegovina; Mr Dusan Rodic of the ‘Toplana’ District Heating Company of Banja Luka,
the Director of Fund for Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency of Republika
Srpska, Mr Srdjan Todorovic, and UNEP representative, Mr Pier Carlo Sandei.
The mapping of the energy flow is part of the assessment that will be undertaken as the
first action under the ‘Rehabilitation and Modernisation of the District Heating System
in the City of Banja Luka’ project, which expected to be completed in four months.
The project aims to help reduce energy costs and heat losses and ensure a switch to
environmentally-friendly heating.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) is part of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change Technology Mechanism and is hosted by
UNEP in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
The Centre utilises the expertise of over 100+ institutions around the world to deliver
technical assistance and capacity building at the request of countries.
The Global District Energy in Cities Initiative was launched by UNEP at the Climate
Summit in September 2014. It is part of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) Global
Energy Efficiency Accelerator Platform, which aims at energy efficiency improvements
that will significantly reduce emissions and lower energy costs. The Global District
Energy in Cities Initiative is a registered sector under the Lima Paris Action Agenda for
UNFCCC COP21, and contributes to SDG7 on sustainable energy1.
The main project partners are the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of
Industry, Energy and Mining of Republika Srpska (RS), the Ministry of Spatial Planning,
Civil Engineering and Ecology of RS, Regulatory Commission for Energy of RS, the Fund
for Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency of RS, City of Banja Luka and the
‘Toplana’ District Heating Company Banja Luka.
A similar initiative will be simultaneously developed to assist the City of Belgrade and
Sarajevo in facilitating improvements in their respective district heating networks.
For more information, please contact:
Isabelle Valentiny, Head of Communications, UNEP’s Regional Office for Europe,
+41 79 251 82 36, isabelle.valentiny@unep.org
Karina Larsen, Knowledge and Communications Manager, Climate Technology
Centre and Network, Tel. +45 5217.0060, k.larsen@unido.org
1
Contact: des@unep.org