Croatian power utility Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (HEP) intends to install a 25 MW solar park in the area of the Kršan municipality, in the eastern part of the Istrian peninsula, the Glas Istre portal reported.

Notably, HEP operates its only coal-fired power plant, Plomin, in this municipality.

Mayor Valdi Runko said that the Kršan municipality and HEP had signed documents for the construction of solar power facilities on 50 hectares of land at the location of the Nova Vas settlement. The installed capacity of the power facilities will be 25 MW, with an annual generation of 30,000 MWh of electricity.

It is part of HEP’s strategy to develop renewable energy sources, with construction scheduled to begin in early 2021, he said, adding that the investment is estimated at HRK 184 million (about EUR 25 million).

The Plomin power plant has two units with a total capacity of 335 MW. The 125 MW unit A was built in 1970 and has not been operational since the end of 2018, because, according to HEP’s website, its environmental permit has expired. The 210 MW unit B built in 2010 is operational.

In April, HEP announced an investment cycle to soak around EUR 100 million by 2023 to build solar power facilities. The company intends to install solar power plants with a combined capacity of 350 MW by 2030.

In April and May, HEP submitted to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy applications for the evaluation of the need for environmental impact assessment for the two solar power plants – the 60 MW Obrovac Sinjski and the 35 MW Konačnik in the Splitsko-Podravska County.

HEP currently operates 13 rooftop solar power plants installed on its business buildings, with a total capacity of 270 kW, and the 1 MW utility-scale solar power plant Kaštelir.