CLEAG’s Geothermae declared strategic investment project by Croatian government

The Government of Croatia has declared geothermal project AAT Geothermae at Draškovec as a strategic investment project for the country. This innovative geothermal power plant is financed by the EU’s NER 300, one of the world’s largest funding programs for innovative low-carbon energy demonstration projects.

The AAT Geothermae power plant is located at Draškovec, in the Međimurje area in northern Croatia.

According to the Croatian government website, AAT Geothermae, the advanced geothermal plant with carbon capture technology, has been declared as a strategic investment project of the Republic of Croatia.

The installed capacity of the power plant is 18.6 MWe plus 75 MWth while the estimated electricity generation is 258 GWh over five years (121 GWh of electricity plus 137 GWh of heat), the NER 300 factsheet on the project reads.

The total value of the project is estimated at HRK 600 million (about EUR 81 million).

The hot water for the power plant will be extracted from the depths of 1,800 to 2,300 meters. The project’s hybrid system uses two sources for its energy production: hot water as well as the combustible gases dissolved in it, according to the AAT Geothermae website.

The gases are separated from the water and burned in a gas engine. The CO2 from combustion, as well as any brought up to the surface with the hot water, is captured at a rate of 98% and safely re-injected into the same underground aquifer. In conventional geothermal power plants, these gases would have represented a waste and pollution element.

The project has received EUR 14.7 million from NER 300. The EU program is funding 39 projects in various technology categories (bioenergy, concentrated solar power, geothermal, ocean, smart grids, photovoltaics, wind, and carbon capture and storage).

CLEAG plans geothermal power plants in Serbia, Romania, Hungary

AAT Geothermae, wholly-owned by Switzerland-based CLEAG, was founded in 2012 and is developing CLEAG’s first power plant in Croatia. CloZEd Loop Energy AG (CLEAG), established in 2003, is a group of companies operating in the renewable energy sector.

It plans to build 10 geothermal power plants in the region, including three in Croatia, two in Serbia, and one in Romania, the company said earlier.