01 Νοέ Thematic roundtable in Amyntaio
The thematic roundtable Lab was organized under the auspices of the Municipal District Heating Company of the Wider Region of Amyntaio (DETEPA), as the Lead Beneficiary and the Cluster of Bioenergy & Environment of Western Macedonia (CluBE), as the Partner in charge of Dissemination and Communication. The first thematic roundtable of aGROWchain which focused on the management of agricultural waste for heating rural areas, gave the opportunity for an effective and direct communication between the partners involved in the project, directly involved stakeholders and producers of agricultural waste.
At the meeting, besides project partners, participated the Municipality of Amyntaion, DEI RENEWABLE SA, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY of WEST MACEDONIA SA (ANKO SA), DEYA Florinas, DEYA Kozanis, DETI Ptolemaida and a large number of collective producers’ associations in the region.
During the meeting, the region’s potential for multi-purpose biomass support, especially for remote-heating plants has been discussed and the thematic roundtable provided the grounds for for communication and exchange between stakeholders and producers.
Dr. Fallas, Director of Cluster Bioenergy and Environment of Western Macedonia (CluBE), presented examples of good practices of other countries and stressed the necessity and benefits of the project, while also pointing out that such an endeavour requires coordinated action and possibly common tools, such as an Energy Community.
During the meeting, a special emphasis was placed on the need for the operation of district heating, as it is one of the most important issues at the moment, both for the Amyntaion area and for the whole of Western Macedonia..
During the meeting, both the project partners and other project stakeholders analysed their views on the cost of establishing power plants, the cost of producing and purchasing agricultural waste and the cost of selling per unit.
The presence of DEI Renewables SA has been very important, as it allowed for a stronger interaction with local stakeholders and mainly with the district heating and the Municipality of Amyntaio. The sustainability of their projects, their heat production potential and their costs were summarized. Finally, the constructive cooperation meeting was completed with the presentation of views from Cooperatives and autonomous producers of Amyndeas that analyzed the problems and potential of the area for the production and direct use of rural waste for the purpose of heating rural areas.
After the thematic roundtable, a stakeholder visit was carried out to agricultural production sites in the wider Amyndeon area, aiming at the on-site control of the existing situation and the potential for the increase of agricultural waste.