62 newly qualified Energy Scouts from 22 companies presented their energy efficiency projects to an expert jury at the first award ceremony of the German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce (AHK Serbia) on January 28th 2022. Beforehand, a five-day training course was held in autumn 2021 as part of the Young Energy Europe project, which trains young employees on energy and resource efficiency topics. The trained Serbian Energy Scouts then worked in teams to design practical projects in their companies, which they finally pitched at the end of January. The projects were presented online via a Zoom platform. Interested viewers could follow the event via live streaming on YouTube.
Very popular is the optimisation of compressed air systems
The Energy Scout team, Andriana Petrović, Miodrag Njagul and Ljubiša Kordić, from ZF Serbia d.o.o. won the prize with their practical project on compressed air system optimisation. By eliminating the micro leaks and improving the setup of the system, the team significantly reduced their company’s electricity consumption.
The team from Tigar Tyres d.o.o. was awarded with the second place. The Serbian company produces tyres for cars, trucks and buses. The Energy Scouts Dejan Pejčić, Ivan Minčić and Ivica Minic developed a measure to optimise the heat insulation of the tools used for tyre production.
Energy Scout Goran Matic from the company T-1 Ada also convinced the jury with a projct on optimising the compressed air system. The company develops highly wear- and corrosion-resistant spare parts for screw presses for its customers, which are mainly used in the vegetable oil and deep-freeze processing industries.
Other projects convinced the jury
The companies Energy Net d.o.o. and Frikom d.o.o. took the 4th and 5th place. The jury also praised the project of CTP Invest d.o.o. for its well-thought-out idea and creative solutions for the construction of a solar power plant. Two projects that further impressed the jury were a concept for hydrogen production presented by NIS a.d. and the digitalisation of internal processes presented by Metro Cash & Carry d.o.o.
The jury reflected the diverse experience in the field and consisted of Stefan Njegovanović (CPI International Consulting Beograd), Ljiljana Kostic Despotović (Jugo-impex, Niš), Zoran Jovanovic (Siemens Srbija), Ivan Smiljkovic (ProCredit Bank) and Nikola Ćatović (MACS Energy & Water).
The YEE team from Serbia is already looking forward to the new class of Energy Scouts in 2022. All information about the Energy Scout qualification can be found on the website of the AHK Serbia.