Knowledge transfer for creating eco-businesses along the value chain of the biomass

Biomass is an important energy resource in Centru Region. Taking into account the existing biomass resources and the energy demand in Centru Region, an energy association was determined to identify a viable solution for enhancing the competitiveness and attractiveness of the biomass sector in the region. This way, through a transnational cooperation and inspired by a Norwegian model, they developed a new concept for sustainable use of biomass and local economic development.
The purpose of the project was to create a community scale model for biomass utilization for sustainable local economic development and encourage local businesses to develop along biomass value chain.
In order to reach this objective, the project included different knowledge and good practices transfer activities as: training activities for the local SMEs and the energy providers; consultancy activities for SMEs in order to generate innovative business ideas and new eco-businesses along the value chain of the biomass, expertise and know-how transfer for the energy association etc. The project also included an integrated community-scale energy system, based on a heating system fuelled with biomass (woodchips). This community scale system had three main components: a willow short rotation coppice (3 ha willow plantation), harvesting and chipping the existing wood waste from public areas using a wood shredder and the installation of a 150 kW biomass heating system.