Finland’s Taaleri joins forces with Encro on 111 MW wind project in Croatia

Finland-based Taaleri Energia and Croatian renewable energy firm Encro are building two onshore wind farms in Croatia’s coastal region of Dalmatia, with a combined capacity of 111 MW. The wind farms, located near the city of Zadar, are expected to be fully operational in Q4 2023.

Taaleri Energia, through its Taaleri SolarWind II fund, and Encro, the original developer of the project, will own 100% of the wind farms, which should generate about 317 GWh of electricity a year, enough to supply some 85,000 households. During operation, they will offset the equivalent of about 78,000 tons of CO2 each year.

The developers are planning to enter into a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) for a substantial proportion of the electricity generated by the wind farms, according to a press release from Taaleri.

Much of the electricity produced by the wind farms is planned to be sold through a long-term PPA

Croatia’s first utility-scale renewable energy project developed outside of a state subsidy scheme has secured a EUR 126 million financing package from a consortium of lenders including UniCredit’s Zagrebačka Banka, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The project is expected to increase Croatia’s electricity generation from renewables, not including large hydropower plants, by more than 10%, the EBRD said, noting that this is its first wind-farm investment in the country. Croatia’s climate targets include boosting the share of electricity generation from wind and solar from 14% in 2020 to 27% in 2030 and 45% by 2050, the bank noted.

The wind farms will have 25 Nordex turbines

The wind farms, whose construction began in Q2 2021, will have a total of 25 wind turbines supplied and maintained over 30 years by Germany’s Nordex, Taaleri said in the press release.

Taaleri Energia is a renewable energy developer and fund manager, with a 2.8 GW wind and solar portfolio in Europe, the US, and the Middle East.

Encro and its partners have so far completed 142 MW of renewable energy projects, with a further 350 MW of wind farms and 300 MW of solar power plants in the pipeline.