Croatia launches project to upgrade power grid

The Croatian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy published an advertisement for the direct allocation of a project to introduce advanced IT networks into the distribution system operator (DSO) HEP – ODS company which supplies power to the population and companies across the country.

HEP – ODS is subsidiary of the power utility Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP), while the overall value of the project is HRK 229 million (EUR 30 million).

The Ministry advertisement for the direct allocation of that strategic project said that the introduction of that advanced IT system should lead to improvements and the optimization of the existing power grid and reduce overall losses in the electricity distribution system in the country.

The installing of advanced infrastructure allows for a more precise calculation of losses and the locating of areas with increased losses in the entire distribution network, the monitoring of consumption of electricity and active consumption management for consumers, the ministry said in its statement.

The existing conventional power grid will be developed and optimized with the implementation of this project through the installing of more efficient transformer and reduction of technical losses along with the advanced upgrades of the medium-voltage network which will improve the reliability of supply and enable a higher level of integration for renewable energy sources in the power grid.

The pilot project will be implemented in five of the total of 21 power areas in which the HEP – ODS supplies electricity to consumers, that is in areas in which the concentration of consumers is at the highest and at medium levels. HEP – ODS said on its Internet pages that its losses in 2016 stood at the level of 7.6 percent.

Electricity losses to be reduced 1,1%

Up to 85 percent of that money, or a maximum of HRK 149,950,132 (EUR 20.2 million), to implement the project will be secured in the form of a grant from the European Regional Development Fund, the ministry said.

The deadline to submit a project proposal to introduce advanced IT infrastructure into the power distribution network has been set as June 1, 2018.

The Ministry said it expects, as the main results of the project, a reduction of the loss of electricity in the distribution network across the country by at least 1.1 percent and the introduction of advanced segments for end users into the national power grid.