Fast-growing trees are planted in closed coal mines – their calorific value was higher than that of brown or lignite.
Fast-growing willows could soon become a common sight in the Balkan landscape if a pilot project in decommissioned coal mines in Bosnia and Serbia yields results.
Able to grow two centimeters a day, willows quickly reach the required size and can be burned together with coal in thermal power plants.
“We have planted 14,000 willows on one hectare of land,” said Izet Cikusic, a member of the team at the Bosnian electricity company Elektroprivreda, which operates at the Kreka mine in the northern city of Tuzla.
“We have identified a total of 450 hectares that can be recultivated for this purpose,” he added.
Kreka, where the first willows were planted in May, is Elektroprivreda’s largest coal mine. Only three of the 12 mines are currently operating. Willows are delayed in growth due to drought in summer.
The trees were planted in the closed mine personally by about 50 miners, who would otherwise be redundant. The first harvest is expected in three years, and then every year for the next 25 years.
Bonnie Norman, president of the US partner in the E3 International project, said the trees are known as “energy willows” because their calorific value is higher than that of brown coal or lignite, which is usually burned in Bosnia and Herzegovina, neighboring Serbia.
“Up to 20 percent of them can be added to existing furnaces. This reduces smog,” she said.
Elektroprivreda has identified suitable areas in two of the company’s seven willow testing mines.
On the other side of the border, where the trees are known as “Serbian oil”, E3 International, funded by the Austrian Development Agency, has planted willows in four places, including a landfill and a coal mine.
Serbia, like Bosnia, has no plans to give up coal by 2050. The country currently produces two-thirds of its electricity in old coal-fired power plants.
A study by the United Nations Development Program has identified 1.6 million hectares of abandoned and poor-quality agricultural land here.
“If we use a total of 75,000 hectares (willows), this could replace 10 per cent of Serbia’s coal-fired energy … within the energy solutions portfolio,” Norman said.
