The preparations are underway for the repowering of the Trtar-Krtolin wind farm, which was commissioned in 2006 near Šibenik. Croatia’s first wind power plant – Ravne 1 (5.95 MW) – began producing electricity two years earlier.
After 20 years of operation, the Trtar-Krtolin wind farm in Croatia is entering reconstruction, and a comparison of technical details demonstrates how much wind energy technology has advanced during that period.
The plant, built by Germany’s wpd, consists of 14 Enercon E-48 wind turbines with an individual capacity of 800 kW, mounted on 50-meter-high towers, with a rotor diameter of 48 meters. The total installed capacity is 11.2 MW.
The function of the battery would be the optimization of the wind farm’s production
The repowering of the Trtar-Krtolin wind farm envisages the replacement of the 14 existing wind turbines with up to five new with an individual capacity of up to 6 MW, according to the environmental report aimed at assessing the need for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Trtar-Krtolin wind farm repowering project.
The request for the assessment was submitted to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition by Vjetroelektrana Trtar Krtolin, registered in Dubrovnik.
The investor also plans to install a battery energy storage system (BESS) of up to 10 MW / 20 MWh.
The battery would be used for the optimization of the wind farm’s production, namely storing energy from production when the plant is operating at full generating capacity, and delivering it to the grid at moments when production is insufficient and the timing is most favorable for feed-in, the study reads.
Extension of operational lifespan
The investor explained that the objective of the project is the repowering of the wind farm to allow for the extension of its operational lifespan, enabling energy generation in a safe, economically viable, and environmentally friendly manner, and the feed-in of electricity into the Croatian power system.
In line with European directives regarding the repowering of renewable energy power plants, the EIA is limited to potential effects arising from changes or expansions compared to the original project, the investor noted.
Of note, Incidentally, in mid-2023, wpd said it plans to build a solar power plant at the site of its existing wind farm Katuni in Croatia.
