Conversion of existing boiler houses of varying capacities from fossil fuel to wood-waste at five demonstration sites will be implemented within the Project "Biomass Energy for Heating and Hot Water Supply in Belarus".

These sites have been selected by minute sifting of the database created by local specialists which contains over 4,500 boiler house entries.

Several selection criteria were used for the selection of demonstration sites which included several stages. Altogether, more than 100 boiler houses have been selected, about half of which has been surveyed.

1.Minskenergo boiler house, located in Vileika 2.BelGRES RUE "Vitebskenrego" (Orekhovsk) 3.Volat-1 Private Enterprise (Uzda) 4.Mostodrev (Mosty) 5.State forestry enterprise "Vileiskiy Leskhoz"

December 12, 2006 the Coordination Committee meeting took place.
The Committee made a decision for inclusion in the list of demonstration sites BelGRES (Orekhovsk city), which belongs to RUP "Vitebskenergo".

А mini-cogeneration plant fired by the wood and peat fuel mixture is under construction at the BelGRES power plant. In the course of the negotiations, RUP Vitebskenergo expressed interest in participating in the UNDP/GEF Biomass Energy project with the purpose of increasing the use of wood fuel at the mini-cogeneration plant and decreasing the proportion of the peat being used. The respective letter expressing such interest of RUP Vitebskenergo has been prepared and submitted to the UN Representation Office. If the BelGRES power plant is included in the List, the peat substitution measures will be financed using the GEF funds in the amount of US$ 300 million to be returned to the Project revolving fund.

Changes in the list of demonstration sites

March 09, 2006 The Coordination Committee meeting took place.

The Committee made a decision on the following changes in the list of demonstration sites:

The main reason is the following: JSC Stroydetal has implemented works on boiler convertion to biomass fuel which was funded by their own sources.

Changes in the list of demonstration sites

December 15, 2004 The Coordination Committee meeting took place.

The Committee made a decision on the following changes in the list of demonstration sites:

The main reason of these changes was bad financial statement of both enterprises what threatened successful implementation of the demonstration projects and the repayment of the loans to the Revolving Fund.

Pre feasibility study has shown that the new demonstration site will allow the project to achieve higher reduction volumes of CO2 emissions (compared to previous ones) with the same level of GEF financing

Financial audits of both companies has already been completed. The enterprises has demonstrated good financial data over the past several years, has been purchasing new machinery on a regular basis, constructing new facilities. Both companies have issued formal commitment letters on site co-financing and repayment of the RF loans.