January 15, 2026
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Spajić: Japanese company Itochu eyes Montenegro’s waste-to-energy project

Prime Minister of Montenegro Milojko Spajić said an incinerator of up to 50 MW is about to be built, resolving the municipal waste management issue. He added that Itochu from Japan is interested in the investment.

Following a public call for a feasibility study for a waste-to-energy facility in Podgorica, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said Montenegro would soon build the first incineration plant. It will enable up to 50 MW of renewable energy from waste, sorting out the matter of municipal waste management in accordance with the European Union’s directives and in an environmentally friendly way, in his words.

The public-private partnership will facilitate the construction of an incinerator for the capital city, but it would also be an option for other municipalities, according to Spajić. The prime minister revealed that Japan-based engineering giant Itochu is among the companies interested in the project.

Deponija, the utility in charge of waste management in Podgorica, launched the public call in September. The contract was awarded last month to a consortium of local firms Vatreks Rescue CG and Medix, and Slovenia-based GP sistemi.

A consortium has won the contract for the feasibility study for the incineration facility in Podgorica

They are due to deliver the documentation within two months. The job is worth EUR 435,600 including value-added tax.

There was no indication in the project task about the preferred technology for the incinerator. Such facilities are usually cogeneration plants, combined heat and power (CHP).

In the Western Balkans, there is only one municipal waste incinerator that recovers energy. It is located in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Utilizing waste to generate energy is a component of the waste management hierarchy. Incinerators are present all over Europe.

Podgorica’s waste utility Deponija runs the city’s landfill. It already captures biogas, but it flares it without utilizing the energy.

Executive director Aleksandar Božović said the firm would soon obtain the licenses and documentation to build a biogas power plant. The study has been completed, and Deponija is working to secure a grant from an international financial institution, he asserted.

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January 12, 2026
by in News

Spajić: Japanese company Itochu eyes Montenegro’s waste-to-energy project

Prime Minister of Montenegro Milojko Spajić said an incinerator of up to 50 MW is about to be built, resolving the municipal waste management issue. He added that Itochu from Japan is interested in the investment.

Following a public call for a feasibility study for a waste-to-energy facility in Podgorica, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said Montenegro would soon build the first incineration plant. It will enable up to 50 MW of renewable energy from waste, sorting out the matter of municipal waste management in accordance with the European Union’s directives and in an environmentally friendly way, in his words.

The public-private partnership will facilitate the construction of an incinerator for the capital city, but it would also be an option for other municipalities, according to Spajić. The prime minister revealed that Japan-based engineering giant Itochu is among the companies interested in the project.

Deponija, the utility in charge of waste management in Podgorica, launched the public call in September. The contract was awarded last month to a consortium of local firms Vatreks Rescue CG and Medix, and Slovenia-based GP sistemi.

A consortium has won the contract for the feasibility study for the incineration facility in Podgorica

They are due to deliver the documentation within two months. The job is worth EUR 435,600 including value-added tax.

There was no indication in the project task about the preferred technology for the incinerator. Such facilities are usually cogeneration plants, combined heat and power (CHP).

In the Western Balkans, there is only one municipal waste incinerator that recovers energy. It is located in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Utilizing waste to generate energy is a component of the waste management hierarchy. Incinerators are present all over Europe.

Podgorica’s waste utility Deponija runs the city’s landfill. It already captures biogas, but it flares it without utilizing the energy.

Executive director Aleksandar Božović said the firm would soon obtain the licenses and documentation to build a biogas power plant. The study has been completed, and Deponija is working to secure a grant from an international financial institution, he asserted.

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December 3, 2025
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Novi Sad plans to build waste-to-energy cogeneration plant

The City of Novi Sad plans to produce electricity and heat from solid municipal waste and has invited bids for a preliminary feasibility study for a cogeneration plant that would burn processed waste from a planned regional waste management center. Surplus energy could be stored within the future solar thermal system.

Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, already has a combined heat and power plant (CHP) that uses municipal waste. As such facilities exist all over Europe, Novi Sad’s district heating enterprise Novosadska toplana specified in the public call that the study must include an overview of relevant examples and best practices.

The document is to assess the feasibility of obtaining energy from waste processed into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and solid recovered fuel (SRF). The fuel would be produced in a mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) plant for biodegradable waste within the future regional waste management center for Novi Sad and the municipalities of Bačka Palanka, Bački Petrovac, Beočin, Žabalj, Srbobran, Temerin, and Vrbas, according to the public call.

The bid submission deadline is December 15, and the study must be completed within 180 days of the contract signing. The job is valued at RSD 22 million.

The purpose of the study is to provide a preliminary assessment of the potential for and benefits of using available solid fuel from waste for high-efficiency cogeneration for the city’s needs, as well as the feasibility of building a CHP plant fueled by RDF and SRF, according to the public call.

The cogeneration plant could burn up to 40,000 tons of solid waste fuel per year

The MBT plant at the regional waste management center is expected to produce between 30,000 and 40,000 tons of solid fuel for cogeneration. The planned location of the plant, along with a fuel storage facility, is adjacent to the existing landfill in Novi Sad, according to the documentation.

The preliminary feasibility study should propose the optimal site for the cogeneration plant, taking into account the infrastructural capacity for connection to Novi Sad’s district heating system and the distance from the fuel storage facility.

The authorities suggest that the site should be in the vicinity of the TE-TO cogeneration plant in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, due to its excellent connections to the power grid and the city’s district heating system. In addition, this site will host a planned solar thermal system, whose underground storage facility would be able to store excess energy from the waste-to-energy plant during the summer.

Surplus energy could be stored in the future solar thermal system

The project has secured an EUR 85 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and a grant of EUR 24.7 million from the Western Balkans Investment Fund (WBIF). The system will have a storage capacity of around 870,000 cubic meters, solar collectors with a total capacity of 31 MW, heat pumps with a capacity of 17 MW, and two electric boilers with a combined capacity of 60 MW, according to the EBRD website.

The bank said the launch of the public procurement is expected on November 26.

The proposed location for the cogeneration plant should also take into account Novi Sad’s newly-built heating plant, Majevica, which is expected to become operational by the end of the year.

The study should propose the optimal technology for solid fuel incineration, a preliminary design for the cogeneration plant, as well as systems for flue gas cleaning and ash management, according to the documentation.

Since the City of Novi Sad plans to apply for grants from international institutions and funds for the preparation of technical documentation and further project development, the public call states that the study should be carried out in line with the methodology of international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the German development bank KfW, and the EBRD, including a financial analysis and an assessment of CO₂ emission reductions.

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September 30, 2025
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Race against time to secure EU funding for waste-to-energy plants in Greece

Hostile reactions from citizens and the opposition by municipal authorities threaten to derail Greece’s efforts to build six waste-to-energy plants. Moreover, time is running out to secure EUR 800 million in European funding.

The Ministry of Environment and Energy is expected to publish a call for waste-to-energy projects planned in Attica, Western Macedonia, Rodopi, Peloponnese, Boeotia (Viotia) and Crete. Total investment would amount to EUR 1 billion, for 1.19 million tons in capacity. However, time is running out to secure EUR 800 million in European funding set aside for them and the accompanying recycling plants.

Greece has been warned several times by the European Commission and fined for failing to fulfil its obligations in waste management. The country still relies mostly on landfills to handle municipal waste, instead of modern solutions. Ideally, useful materials should be sorted for recycling before the waste gets burned in incinerators to produce energy.

Two of the proposed units, the ones in Rodopi and Western Macedonia, are expected to provide district heating. The Ptolemaida 5 lignite-fired plant supplies district heating in the coal region of Western Macedonia in the country’s north, but it is scheduled to be decommissioned by 2028 at the latest.

Its owner, Public Power Corporation (PPC or DEI) aims to complete a waste-to-energy plant by then. Other prospective investors include GEK Terna, Metlen, Aktor and Motor Oil Hellas, all big players in the country’s energy market.

High fees and pollution worry municipalities

Many local authorities have expressed their objections to hosting these plants, fearing a rise in municipal fees and pollution. A discussion is underway in numerous municipal councils. They could lodge appeals to the Supreme Court and delay the process.

Amanatidis: Cancel all waste-to-energy plans

The regional council of Western Macedonia recently voted overwhelmingly to reject the plan for PPC’s planned unit from the ministry’s strategic environmental assessment (SEA). Governor Giorgos Amanatidis called on the government to withdraw the study and cancel the project. Municipalities in the same region and other institutions are also against an incinerator.

European funding through the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) ends in 2027. The government and investors have until mid-2026 for implementation, Newmoney reported, adding that waste-to-energy projects take two to three years to complete.

Recently, another initiative, the Apollo program, for investments in renewable energy to lower energy costs for vulnerable consumers, lost EUR 100 million from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

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September 17, 2025
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Montenegro’s capital Podgorica preparing feasibility study for waste incinerator

Municipal waste utility Deponija has made the first step towards building a waste-to-energy facility.

Deponija, the utility in charge of waste management in Montenegro’s capital, launched a public call for the production of a feasibility study for the construction of a municipal waste incinerator within the territory of the city of Podgorica.

The task should be implemented in line with the requirements of sustainable waste management, circular economy, and the European Union’s environmental standards, the call reads.

There is only one waste incinerator in the Western Balkans

Of note, in the Western Balkans region, there is only one waste-to-energy plant, located in Belgrade. Utilizing waste to generate energy is a legitimate component of waste management hierarchy. Incinerators are present all over Europe. Croatia and Slovenia are planning to build such facilities, though some citizens oppose it.

Deponija also listed several motives for preparing the study. They include modernization of the municipal waste management system in Podgorica, reduction of the amount of waste that ends up in the landfill, and the production of renewable energy from waste.

The enterprise also aims to align its operations with the European Union’s waste management directives and gather data for potential partners and investors to assess the project.

The main goal of the study is to establish a sustainable and economically justified system for thermal treatment of municipal waste that will contribute to solving waste management problems in Podgorica, the call reads.

Deponija requested an analysis of different thermal treatment technologies

Deponija said that the study would include technological options or comparative analysis of various waste thermal treatment technologies such as incineration, refuse-derived waste, gasification and pyrolysis.

A key part of the future document is the environmental impact assessment (EIA), which will identify potential impacts on air, water, and land, mitigation measures, and monitoring.

Mayor of Podgorica Saša Mujović supported last year the idea of building a waste-to-energy plant. At that time, he was the minister of energy.

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June 10, 2025
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Greece plans six waste-to-energy plants, set to meet EU landfilling limits

Large Greek companies, interested in the construction and operation of waste incinerators producing electricity and heat, are waiting for the government to complete the legal framework and launch tenders. Without the six planned facilities and accompanying infrastructure, the country would substantially lag behind the European Union’s targets for lowering the share of landfilled material.

Greece is transforming its waste management sector – dozens of units mechanically treating the material to feed six incinerators, covering all the regions. The Ministry of Environment and Energy is about to complete a strategic environmental assessment (SEA), after which its plan is to adopt a legal framework, before the end of the year.

Following a public consultation process, the general parameters would be determined including the details of a tender for the waste-to-energy plants. They are valued at EUR 1 billion in total. State-controlled Public Power Corp. (PPC or, in Greek, DEI) has expressed interest in entering the sector, alongside the conglomerates GEK Terna and Metlen, construction company Aktor, oil refinery operator Motor Oil and water, wastewater and waste processing operator Mesogeos.

The ministry intends to complete the competitive process in 2026, followed by a three-year construction period. The Greek media learned that public-private partnership is a favorable model for the investments.

At least two of six plants would provide district heating

In the central scenario, an incinerator in the Rhodope area would serve the wider region of East Macedonia and Thrace. One would be in Kozani, a coal region, for Central and Western Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly and Corfu.

The government envisaged a unit in the Peloponnese to cover Western Greece, the Peloponnese peninsula itself and the Ionian Sea, excluding Corfu. One waste-to-energy plant is planned in Boeotia (Viotia), covering parts of Central Greece and the western part of Attica.

The waste incinerator in Kozani is likely to be built in the vicinity of Ptolemaida 5, Greece’s last coal power plant

In the same peninsula, where Athens is situated, a unit would also get shipments of waste from the north Aegean islands, one section of the Cyclades archipelago and the Dodecanese. An incineration plant in Heraklion (Iraklio) would be for Crete, Santorini, Karpathos and Rhodes.

The combined annual capacity of the six units is projected at 1.19 million tons. The largest ones are the Attica project (356,000 tons) and the Kozani plant (288,000 tons). The latter, which would probably be located near PPC’s Ptolemaida 5 coal power plant, is also seen providing up to 40% of the district heating needs in the area. The investment is valued at EUR 300 million.

Ptolemaida 5 is scheduled to be closed at the end of next year, marking the completion of Greece’s coal phaseout. The waste incinerator in Boeotia would provide district heating as well, the plan reads.

System for energy recovery clings on construction of mechanical treatment units, waste separation

On the logistics side, there are 13 waste treatment units in operation in Greece and 25 are under construction. The ministry expects all units to be complete by 2029, to feed the incinerators.

The capacity amounts to 1.45 million tons per year altogether, of which 651,000 tons of waste would be processed into solid recovered fuel (SRF), which is of higher quality. The energy-intensive industry would absorb 150,000 tons. The development of the treatment system requires substantial infrastructure including the selection of municipal waste selection at the source.

Up to 651,000 tons of SRF is expected to be produced per year in the waste treatment facilities

The estimated electricity production from 1.19 million tons of waste is 1.03 TWh, equivalent to 2% of the country’s total consumption. Notably, 57.5% of the projected output is considered renewable energy, in line with the portion of biodegradable waste.

In the study, the options to deploy pyrolysis or gasification technologies were rejected. The authors argued they are not viable in Europe. It left incineration as the only option to recover energy from waste.

If the incinerators aren’t built, but the energy-intensive industry receives the same amount of SRF, 22.7% of waste would be landfilled in 2030, projections showed. The European Union’s target is 10%. The share of landfilled waste rises to 29.2% in the same scenario.

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April 8, 2025
by in News

Share of coal power in Finland nearly zero as cogeneration plant shuts down

Helsinki’s municipal energy company Helen closed its last coal facility. Together with the country’s remaining plants that use the solid fossil fuel, Salmisaari accounted for just 0.8% of the electricity mix in 2024. The Government of Finland earlier set May 1, 2029, as the coal exit date.

Two years ago, the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor of 1.6 GW, the strongest in Europe, entered commercial operation. Apparently it helped the energy system of Finland to almost eliminate coal from the board. Helen, controlled by the local authority of the capital Helsinki, closed its Hanasaari B plant in 2023, leaving the Salmisaari combined heat and power (CHP) facility as the only one using coal. This week the company shut it down.

Finland is now using neglectable quantities of coal. Salmisaari has 177 MW in power capacity and 300 MW for heat. Together with the country’s remaining three coal power plants, it accounted for a mere 0.8% of the electricity mix last year, Coal-Free Finland and Beyond Fossil Fuels said.

Moreover, coal amounts to just 30% of fuel in Vaskiluoto 2. The facility mostly uses biomass. The operator of the Martinlaakso coal unit is eliminating fossil fuels from regular operations next year. The third one, Meri-Pori, is in strategic reserve.

Share of coal in Finland is marginal

Finland will retain reserve coal capacity for security of supply purposes, which can be deployed if necessary, Helen said. In addition, some energy companies use small amounts of coal in their energy production for peak, reserve and security of supply reasons, it added. The law forbids using coal in energy production after May 1, 2029.

Wind power output more than doubled in Finland since 2020, reaching a quarter of the total. At the same time, coal-fired generation plummeted 73% while fossil gas is down 82%, according to the report. “Finland has shown what’s possible when clear political signals are matched with rapid investments in renewable power,” said Deputy Campaign Director at Beyond Fossil Fuels Cyrille Cormier. The group called on the authorities to double down on renewables and clean flexibility.

Finnish energy experts can pull off impossible tasks

Helen delayed the closure of Salmisaari by a year. Coal still accounted for 64% of the company’s district heating supply in 2022!

The utility managed to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% since 1990. It aims to reach 95% by the end of the decade.

“Helen giving up coal and, at the same time, foreign imported energy with regard to it, will remain a significant part of our country’s industrial history and shows that Finnish energy expertise enables actions that initially seemed impossible,” Chief Executive Officer Olli Sirkka said.

Helen transitioning to clean solutions

Helen is shifting to clean solutions. It enables operating more profitably with lower prices, the CEO pointed out. A range of facilities are under construction.

Heat production is mainly moving to heat pumps – utilizing waste and environmental heat – electric boilers, energy storage and sustainable biofuels. Helen will lean on wind, nuclear energy, hydropower and photovoltaics for electricity.

The new units in Salmisaari will be two electric boilers of a combined 100 MW, in combination with a heat pump of 33 MW in external capacity, as well as a 153 MW plant burning wood pellets. Helen is planning a 200 MW electric boiler facility of four units in Hanasaari, able to store 1 GWh of heat. It would currently be the biggest in Europe.

Helsinki has the ambition to reach climate neutrality by 2030, though including external offsets. It would eliminate them within the following ten years, which means only the city’s carbon sinks are included in the equation. The next step is turning carbon negative.

Market forces are decimating the remaining coal power capacity in Europe as it is expensive because of emissions rights and strict environmental regulations, as well as inflexible. Germany, Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo* and Turkey have the largest shares of coal in power production in the European Union and Southeastern Europe. Their phaseout deadlines are all after 2030, but the situation is changing fast.

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* This designation is without prejudice to positions onstatus and is in line with UNSCR 1244/99 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.