Acciona to build two wind farms in Croatia after auction win

Spain-based Acciona is the only company that won premiums for wind power projects at Croatia’s first auction for utility-scale renewable electricity plants. Its two facilities will have a combined capacity of 72 MW.

Acciona Energía announced it would install two wind farms in Croatia. The Opor facility is planned for 27 MW and the capacity of the Boraja 2 unit should reach 45 MW. The Croatian Energy Market Operator (HROTE) picked them last week as the only eligible wind power projects at its first tender for premiums for utility-scale renewable electricity plants.

The two wind farms were assigned 12-year power purchase agreements. Acciona’s subsidiaries will sign so-called contracts for difference (CfDs). The company headquartered in Spain valued the investment in an overall 72 MW at almost EUR 100 million.

Acciona to use Nordex’s 4.5 MW wind turbines

The two wind farms will have a total of 16 Nordex machines, each with a planned capacity of 4.5 MW. Acciona estimated their combined production at 203 GWh, equivalent to the electricity needs of 60,000 Croatian households.

The commissioning is scheduled for 2024. The utility said it would spend a portion of the revenue to support education, wellness and environmental stewardship programs in the communities where it operates.

Its Croatian subsidiary Acciona energija, founded in 2013, is based in Split, the country’s second-largest city. The site for Opor is nearby and Boraja 2’s location is in the neighboring Šibenik-Knin county.

Spain-based company developing largest solar park in Croatia

Acciona already operates a 30 MW wind farm in Croatia. The Jelinak facility, also in the Split-Dalmatia county, was completed almost a decade ago. The firm’s country manager Aljoša Pleić told tportal that the domestic permitting process got somewhat faster but that it is still slower than expected, citing digitalization issues in particular.

Pleić: The permitting process in the country gained in speed but it is still slower than expected

The Spanish company is developing several more renewable energy projects, he added and highlighted the planned solar park in Promina in the Šibenik-Knin county. Pleić earlier said it would have 150 MW in capacity, which would currently make it the largest photovoltaic unit in Croatia, and that the project was worth EUR 99 million.

Of note, just before the auction results were out, Acciona said it secured a EUR 110 million loan from the European Investment Bank for research, development and innovation and that the funds would be used to explore new technologies for clean energy, water treatment and desalination and sustainable construction materials.