The Russian owners of Brod refinery are working on projects, among which is electricity generation. The latest one is the construction of four small-scale solar power plants within the refinery, which should be completed in December. Oil refinery in Bosanski Brod has been out of operation for almost two years and the restart of oil processing is constantly delayed.
The refinery recently filed an application to the Energy Regulatory Commission of the Republic of Srpska (RERS) for entering RES support scheme. According to the application, each of the four facilities will have annual electricity generation of 280,000 kWh.
The construction of these solar power plants was announced in February, when the management of the refinery expressed interest in diversification, by investing in the gasification of the refinery, expansion of the retail fuel network, renewable energy projects and gas-fired electricity generation.
The construction and installation works of the internal gas pipeline system within Bosanski Brod oil refinery intended for the distribution and supply of the refinery’s boiler room with natural gas have been completed in late July. For this purpose, more than 1.3 kilometers of pipelines have been laid within the refinery grounds. With the completion of this phase of construction, it is now possible for the boiler room, which continuously maintains the operating systems of the Refinery, to use natural gas instead of fuel oil.
Although the gasification of the refinery was originally planned to be completed in the third quarter of this year, due to delays caused by the introduction of a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic, the deadline has been postponed to December this year.
Oil refinery in Bosanski Brod, as well as the refinery in Modrica and Nestro Petrol in Banja Luka are part of Optima Group, majority owned by NeftegazInKor, a subsidiary of the Russian company Zarubezhneft. Oil refinery in Bosanski Brod is out of operation since January 2019 and it is expected to restart production in mid-2020.
