The wind farm Korlat, near the Croatian town of Benkovac was put into operation by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the President of the Management Board of Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP), Frane Barbarić. Next year on the same site, construction of the solar power plant Korlat will begin 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,” said Prime Minister Plenković. “The value of the project is 500 million kuna [approximately 66.2 million euro] and expected annual generation amounts to 170 gigawatt-hours (GWh), which is around 1 per cent of the annual electricity consumption in Croatia, sufficient to supply more than 50,000 households.”
The wind farm Korlat consists of 18 wind turbines, with an installed capacity of 3.6 megawatts (MW) each, delivered, installed and put into operation by the German company Nordex. It 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 the wind farm, HEP is planning to build a solar power plant with a connection capacity of 75 MW and an installed capacity of 95 MW. Once operational, Korlat will be the unique location for the generation of green energy in Croatia and beyond by its total installed capacity of power plants using renewable energy sources.
“Currently there are around 50 renewable energy projects around Croatia, either in construction or in different development phases,” explained Mr Barbarić. “If we take into consideration investments into hydropower 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 [approximately 397.6 million euro]. 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.”
Photos: HEP website/Cropix/Nikša Stipaničev
