Wind farm Korlat near the town of Benkovac was put into operation today by the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenković and the President of the Management Board of Hrvatska elektroprivreda, Frane Barbarić. The construction of solar power plant Korlat starts next year on the same site, and along with the existing wind farm it will create the first renewable hybrid energy park in Croatia. “Korlat will be the first wind farm in Croatia to generate electricity without incentives. The value of the project is HRK 500 million, and expected annual generation amounts to 170 GWh, which is around 1 percent of the annual electricity consumption in Croatia, sufficient to supply more than 50,000 households”, said the Prime Minister, Andrej Plenković.
Wind farm Korlat is located on the site bearing the same name, eight kilometres northwest of the town of Benkovac and it is on the territory of the following cadastral municipalities: Atlagići, Korlat and Biljane Gornje. The wind farm consists of 18 wind turbines, with the installed capacity of 3.6 MW each. They were delivered, installed and put into operation by the German company Nordex. Croatian companies Ing-Grad and Fractal conducted works on the construction of infrastructure and grid connection, as well as on the monitoring and supervision of construction. Wind farm Korlat does not have the status of eligible producer and is the first wind power plant in Croatia to generate electricity without guaranteed purchase at incentive prices.
Immediately next to wind farm Korlat HEP is planning to build a solar power plant with the connection capacity of 75 MW and installed capacity of 95 MW. Its value is estimated at more than HRK 500 million. The power plant, which is going to cover 185 ha of the territory, has the location permit and after the main project is drawn up and the conditions for obtaining the construction permit are fulfilled, the construction may start next year. When the solar power plant starts with operation, Korlat will be the unique location for generation of green energy in Croatia and beyond by its total installed capacity of power plants using renewable energy sources. Wind farm and solar power plant Korlat will create the first hybrid energy park in Croatia.
“Currently there are around 50 renewable energy projects around Croatia, either in construction or in different development phases. If we take into consideration investments into hydro power plants, investments into renewables make up a big part of the total HEP Group’s investments into all activities and business segments. We are planning those as well this year, in the total amount of more than three billion kuna. We expect that for the most part Croatian companies will still participate in the investments, which will confirm that Hrvatska elektroprivreda plays an irreplaceable role as the driver of the Croatian economy”, said Frane Barbarić, President of the Management Board of Hrvatska elektroprivreda.
The construction of HEP’s solar power plants Obrovac and Stankovci has been completed in Zadar County. Photovoltaic modules have been installed into the plants, and generation is expected to start soon. Solar power plant Obrovac, with the connection capacity of 7.35 MW and installed capacity of 8.7 MW is located in the area of the former alumina factory. With its expected annual generation of around 11.3 million kWh, SPP Obrovac is expected to fulfil the needs of more than 3,500 households. The value of the investment is HRK 52 million. Solar power plant Stankovci, with the connection capacity of 2.5 MW will annually generate 4.6 million kWh of electricity, which will be sufficient for the supply of 1,500 households. The investment is worth HRK 26.3 million.
Investments into wind and solar power plants are a part of HEP’s investment cycle into renewable energy sources, which began in 2019. The first cycle comprising investments into eight solar power plants with the total value of HRK 200 million is almost at its end. Within that cycle, apart from the said power plants in Zadar County, solar power plant Vis became operational. Its capacity is 3.5 MW and it is the first big solar power plant on the islands. Solar power plant Vrlika in the south, in the work zone Kosore is also near completion (capacity of 2.1 MW).
At the moment, HEP has around 50 renewable energy sources projects in different phases of development, a significant number of which is in Dalmatia. Along with SPP Korlat, in the wider area of Zadar, i.e. in the hinterland of Zadar county, there are a few solar power plants under development, such as Sukošan (45 MW) and Kruševo (17 MW). Also, the possibility of constructing 220 MW wind power plant Lišane Ostrovičke is being explored. The total capacity of said planned power plants is estimated at 350 MW, including SPP Korlat, and necessary investments are estimated at around HRK 3 billion.
By 2030 HEP is planning to have 350 MW in wind power plants and the same amount in solar power plants. The realization of HEP’s renewable sources scenario by 2030 will result with the increase of renewable energy sources share in HEP’s generation portfolio by 50% and the increase of generation from renewable sources from 6 onto 9 billion kWh per year.
Video from the event is available on
Youtube channel of Hrvatska elektroprivreda.
Photos: Cropix/Nikša Stipaničev
