The 100 Green Trees Initiative at Vinodol Hydropower Plant

HEP Opskrba and ZelEn customers landscape and plant trees around HEP hydropower plants for the fifth consecutive year.

HEP Opskrba, the leading electricity supplier, got involved in the '100 Green Trees' initiative to celebrate the Earth Day as part of the ZelEn project. For the fifth year in a row together with ZelEn customers, HEP Opskrba employees got involved in landscaping the area surrounding a HEP hydropower plant. This year it was Vinodol Hydropower Plant. Despite the small size of the catchment area used by said plant (about 80 km²), it must be pointed out that the entire area is located at the altitude higher than 700 meters  with the hydropower head of 658.5 meters, which is one of the biggest water height differences in European hydropower plants.
During the last four years, the '100 Green Trees' initiative was involved with landscaping and tree planting around Ozalj, Kraljevac, Čakovec and Zakučac hydropower plants. Its purpose is to increase awareness of corporate social responsibility in terms of the environment and the nature in which we all live and work. HEP Opskrba, the winner of the Greenovation Award for the best green economy programme, thus wishes to contribute to the United Nations programme launched in 2010 titled 'A Billion of Green Deeds – International Project for Protecting the Planet and Ensuring Sustainable Future'.
 
'Our hydropower plants as renewable energy sources are the basis for the creation and development of the ZelEn product, a unique environmental and socially sustainable product recognized by more than 100 socially responsible companies in Croatia. The number of Croatian companies opting for electricity produced from renewable sources is increasing, which represents yet another way for taking joint care of the environment. We are particularly pleased to know that the funds collected from the sale of ZelEn are put in a fund which finances RES and energy efficiency-related projects for the needs of institutions involved with socially vulnerable population. A total of six projects worth 1.4 million kuna has been completed to date, and the public invitation for the allocation of another 1.5 million kuna ended in April. We would like to thank once again all ZelEn customers for their trust and participation in our common green story', said Nada Podnar, marketing director in HEP Opskrba.
 
Apart from Boris Glavan, director of Vinodol HPP and our host, the drive was also attended by Željko Starman, director of HEP Proizvodnja (HEP Generation) and Neven Mudrovčić, director of Hydro Production Area West. The initiative was supported not only by HEP Opskrba employees and representatives of HEP Proizvodnja, but also by ZelEn customers.
'We are very pleased to be a part of this praiseworthy initiative. As ZelEn buyers, we wish to stimulate the production of energy from renewable sources to make it more competitive with energy produced from traditional sources as well as to encourage the economic growth around us. By purchasing ZelEn, we have continued to adopt the environmental standards and take proactive steps in environmental protection, wholesome personal development and affirmative social operations. We believe that such initiatives, launched primarily by businesses, will increase as the long-term success is viable solely by respecting all the factors of a business environment, including the nature around us', said Dalibor Starčević, head of technical support at JGL.