A large number of companies from Bosnia and Herzegovina expressed interest in joining the Decarbonisation Challenge for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in BiH. As many as 38 companies responded to the call for expressions of interest.
This intervention is looking to identify and engage five companies from BIH to recover smarter and better, and to setup sustainable approaches for future operation by piloting specific short-term interventions that would contribute to the decarbonisation of their business operations.
Following the evaluation of the received applications, five companies were selected to participate in the Decarbonisation Challenge for SMEs. The proposed projects contribute to decarbonisation and show a path towards a central aim of the decarbonisation strategy – getting to net zero emissions and stabilizing climate change.
Bravarija Pile d.o.o. Trn-Laktaši
Bravarija Pile applied with the project “Changing the heating and cooling system and switching to environmentally friendly energy sources”.
The company recently digitized its production and installed photovoltaic cells on the roofs of the halls, which produce energy from renewable sources. The next important step is the replacement of the heating / cooling system, ie the transition from the use of heating oil to environmentally friendly energy sources. With the realization of this project, the heating / cooling of the building will be solved in a quality and environmentally friendly way and the emission of CO2 (heating oil) will be reduced.
This will reduce the company’s annual carbon footprint by 225 tons of CO2.
Imaco Systemtechnik d.o.o. Usora
Imaco Systemtechnik applied with the project “Photovoltaic power plant for own needs”.
The project proposal aimed at the following:
- own production – clean electricity,
- reduction of electricity costs,
- increase of energy efficiency, ie use of solar energy for the purpose of heating and cooling, lighting,
- reduction of pollution (CO2),
- social responsibility, clean environment, local community.
This will reduce the company’s annual carbon footprint by 125 tons of CO2.
Ferretto Group Central Europe d.o.o. Usora
Imaco Systemtechnik applied with the project “Energia 30”.
It is a solar power plant with a capacity of 30.3 kW. They plan to place the plant on the roof of the business hall, and enable the exploitation of renewable solar energy, in order to reduce the purchase and consumption of electricity that they procure from distributors on the market.
This will reduce the company’s annual carbon footprint by 27.5 tons of CO2.
profine BH d.o.o.
Profine BH applied with the project “Application of heat pumps in the replacement of heating systems (coal and gas)”.
The project envisages the replacement of the existing complex heating system from non-renewable sources (coal and gas) and the transition to a heating system via heat pumps.
This will reduce the company’s annual carbon footprint by 27.2 tonnes of CO2.
ZZ „Brka“ Brčko
ZZ “Brka” applied with the project “Decarbonisation of Agricultural cooperative Brka – installation of solar panels”.
The project envisages the installation of a 54 kw solar power plant. In this way, they will make the transfer from non-renewable to renewable forms of energy, and from the electricity obtained through solar panels they plan to fully meet the current needs for electricity, as well as to transfer the water heating system used in milk pasteurization and cheese production to renewable energy sources.
By switching to sustainable heating systems, Agricultural cooperative “Brka” Brčko will become the first dairy farm in BIH that would apply this technology in production, and at the same time become the first cooperative that gets all its need for electricity from renewable sources.
This will reduce the company’s annual carbon footprint by 225 tons of CO2.
Selected SMEs participating in this challenge will get:
- expert assistance customized to the selected company to benchmark the current status on energy and resource use (assessing the energy leaks and potentials for energy switch as well as assessing technological options for an overall reduction of GHG and air pollutant emissions from their business operations). In this way it would support preparation of a longer-term transformation roadmap that would contribute to a more systemic decarbonisation effort, with measurable indicators of progress;
- small-scale investments in technology or materials essential to kick off or support transformation towards decarbonisation (up to 30,000 BAM per SME), in the framework of sustainability and circularity within the business.
The SME Decarbonisation Challenge will contribute to sustainable and green recovery of the private sector in BiH by supporting pioneer companies in:
- Decreasing their energy intensity;
- Fuel switch from fossil fuels to renewables;
- Controlling GHG emissions;
- Controlling air pollutant emissions.
The goal of this initiative is to support companies in development of the tangible and replicable approach towards decarbonisation.
The SDG Roll out support and Private Sector Engagement Project, implemented by UNDP in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and funded by Sweden, will provide selected companies with professional assistance tailored to each company, as well as a grant worth up to 30,000 KM per company. It is important to emphasize that, in addition to the total investment of 150,000 KM of grant funds, the companies themselves will invest an additional 400,000 KM in these projects, which shows how serious their intentions are to change their business models.
Contracts with these companies were signed in mid-July, and the implementation of projects through the Decarbonisation Challenge for SMEs will last until November 2021.