January 19 (SeeNews) - A 49 MW district-heating plant in Bosnia's Banja Luka fired by wood biomass should become fully operational from February 1, the municipal government said.
The plant's construction is nearing completion and the facility should begin delivering heat to the entire city from February, the municipal government of Banja Luka said in a statement on Thursday.
The final decision, however, will be made at a session of the local government to be held on January 31.
Bringing the new plant on stream is expected to put an end to the city's years-long heating energy issue.
In November last year, the EBRD lent 8.4 million euro ($10.3 million) to Banja Luka for the plant's construction. District heating company Eko Toplane is the builder, owner and operator of the new plant. The city's government has an equity stake in the company.
Banja Luka is is the largest city of the Serb Republic, one of the two entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other is the Federation.
($=0.814609 euro)