Acciona, DTEK win energy approvals for projects in Croatia

The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Croatia has issued energy approvals to Acciona and DTEK for the construction of a solar power plant and a wind farm, respectively.

The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development has published the decisions to issue energy approvals to the best bidders in the tenders for the installation of the Promina photovoltaic power plant and the Brda Umovi wind farm.

The ministry selected Acciona Energija for the Promina solar power project. The location is in the municipality of Promina in the Šibenik-Knin county. The planned capacity is 150 MW and annual output is estimated at 274 GWh per year, the document reads.

Of note, among the 216 requests for energy approvals, Promina is the largest solar project. Currently, the largest photovoltaic unit in Croatia is on the Vis island. Acciona has one wind farm in Croatia, Jelinak, with a capacity of 30 MW, and plans to build two more.

DTEK is building a wind farm near Split

The second energy approval was awarded for the Brda Umovi wind farm, with a capacity of 127 MW. The site is 25 kilometers east of Split in the Split-Dalmatia county. It is in the territories of the municipality of Šetanovac and the cities of Omiš and Trilj.

The project is being developed by Vjetroelektrana Brda Umovi. The acquisition of the firm by DTEK Renewables International, owned by Ukrainian private energy group DTEK, is underway.

Of note, in October 2019, DTEK signed a cooperation agreement with Croatian state-owned power utility Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (HEP).

Croatia introduced energy approvals with the Law on the Electricity Market in October 2021 and defined them as one of the first conditions that an investor must meet to build a solar or wind power plant.

At the time, the government argued that it wanted to select the serious projects among all that obtained any official documentation, but investors claim the process of issuing approvals is too slow.