Back to overview
Orcan Energy Marks Serbian Market Entry with First Biogas Waste Heat Recovery Project
Germany / Serbia, 30.09.2026 – Orcan Energy, a leading provider of modular Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) solutions, has successfully commissioned its first project in Serbia, partnering with biogas operator Alter Biogas Jato to recover and monetize heat that would otherwise go to waste. Developed and installed together with Nahtec, Orcan Energy's local partner in Serbia, the project converts thermal energy from two Jenbacher J320 biogas engines into clean, dispatchable baseload electricity, boosting the facility's overall output without requiring more fuel.
Biogas engines, like all reciprocating gas engines, reject a significant portion of their fuel's energy as heat, through exhaust gas and the engine cooling system. At Alter Biogas Jato’s facility, two eP 050.100 efficiency PACKs tap into both heat streams and convert the recovered thermal energy into electricity, operating fully autonomously alongside the existing plant infrastructure. Each efficiency PACK generates an additional 561 MWh per year, while avoiding 224 tonnes of CO₂ annually. Across both units, Alter Biogas Jato is now producing significantly more electricity from the same biogas input and doing so with less strain on its engine cooling systems.
What makes this project particularly relevant as a market reference is the way it was delivered. Nahtec handled the full scope — from commercial development through to on-site installation — offering Alter Biogas Jato a single point of contact for the entire process. That model is intentional: for biogas operators across Serbia considering similar upgrades, it removes much of the friction typically associated with retrofitting new technology into an existing plant. The efficiency PACK's fuel-agnostic design means the same approach applies whether engines run on biogas, natural gas, diesel, or future alternative fuels.
Nataša Zjajić, Director of Alter Biogas Jato, commented: "We are always looking for ways to get more out of our biogas input. Integrating Orcan Energy's technology was a straightforward decision: the installation was non-disruptive, the system runs autonomously, and we are now generating significantly more electricity from the same fuel. This is exactly the kind of improvement that makes commercial sense for a facility like ours. Orcan Energy’s partner Nahtec was our single point of contact throughout the process, making the procurement and installation a seamless experience."
Andreas Sichert, CEO of Orcan Energy, said: "Serbia, and the entire Balkan region, is a strategically important market for us. Biogas operators here have strong economic incentives to maximize electrical output, and our technology is purpose-built for exactly that. Together with Nahtec, we can offer a complete solution, from commercial development through to installation, with no complex custom engineering required. Using excess heat from biogas plants is only the first step. In Serbia as well as the wider Balkan region, we’re looking forward to unlocking the full potential from energy intensive industries."
Serbia's biogas sector offers a compelling case for waste heat recovery. Existing plants benefit from feed-in tariffs that make every additional kilowatt-hour generated from the same fuel input directly valuable. Energy efficiency is also a priority in Serbia's national energy strategy to 2040, with the country's ongoing EU alignment creating a policy environment increasingly receptive to technologies like WHR. Orcan Energy is already in discussions with operators in the cement, oil and gas and waste incineration sectors, and sees this first biogas reference as a foundation for broader expansion across the Balkans.
This project is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as part of the Renewable Energy Solutions Programme of the German Energy Solutions Initiative.
German Energy Agency (dena)
The German Energy Agency (dena) is a centre of excellence for the applied energy transition and climate protection. dena studies the challenges of building a climate-neutral society and supports the German government in achieving its energy and climate policy objectives. Since its foundation in 2000, dena has worked to develop and implement solutions and bring together national and international partners from politics, industry, the scientific community and all parts of society. dena is a project enterprise and a public company owned by the German federal government. dena’s shareholder is the Federal Republic of Germany.
German Energy Solutions Initiative
With the aim of positioning German technologies and know-how worldwide, the German Energy Solutions Initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) supports suppliers of climate-friendly energy solutions in opening up foreign markets. The focus lies on renewable energies, energy efficiency, smart grids and storage, as well as technologies such as power-to-gas and fuel cells. Aimed in particular at small and medium-sized enterprises, the German Energy Solutions Initiative supports participants through measures to prepare market entry as well as to prospect, develop and secure new markets.
www.german-energy-solutions.de/GES/Navigation/EN/Home/home.html
Renewable Energy Solutions Programme (RES Programme)
With the RES Programme, the German Energy Solutions Initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) helps German companies in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors enter new markets. Within the framework of the programme, reference plants are installed and marketed with the support of the German Energy Agency (dena). Information and training activities help ensure a sustainable market entry and demonstrate the quality of climate-friendly technologies made in Germany.
www.german-energy-solutions.de/GES/Redaktion/EN/Basepages/Services/dena-res.html
________
Da biste pročitali ovo saopštenje za štampu na francuskom, kliknite [ovde].
