Siemens, HOPS ink EUR 14.1 million deal for Sincro.Grid project

Croatian transmission system operator (TSO) HOPS and technology company Siemens have signed a HRK 104.9 million (EUR 14.1 million) contract for the construction of an SVC (static VAR compensator) facility at transformer station Konjsko. The deal is for the installation of reactive power flow control equipment in the south part of the country’s transmission network. The agreement is part of the implementation of the smart grid project Sincro.Grid, backed by the European Union.

The contract, which has a 24-month deadline, was signed by Tomislav Plavšić, HOPS’ management board chairman, Medeja Lončar, Siemens’ chief executive for Croatia and Slovenia, Krunoslav Brekalo, CEO of Smart Infrastructure Croatia, and Nataša Novosad, finance chief at Smart Infrastructure Croatia.

The inking of the agreement could be considered as the final part of the preparations, so now the implementation of the SINCRO.GRID project can start

The turnkey contract includes the preparation of documentation for the production, transport, installation and commissioning of a 250 MVAr SVC. VAR stands for volt-ampere reactive, a unit of reactive power. The deal can be considered as the final part of the preparations, so now the implementation of the SINCRO.GRID project can start, HOPS said on its website, adding that the endeavour is currently its largest investment in implementation.

Sincro.Grid is divided into six procurements or contracts of significant value in order to secure more flexible and efficient project management

Due to the complexity of the project combined in the proposed modern technical solutions (VSR, SVC, DTR, VCBCC) and the number of locations where activities are planned (TS Konjsko, TS Melina, TS Mraclin, 220 kV Brinje-Konjsko, 220 kV Senj- Melina, 220 kV Zakučac-Konjsko, National Dispatch Center), Sincro.Grid is divided into six procurements or contracts of significant value, in order to secure more flexible and efficient project management, said HOPS’ management board chairman.

Under the project, at the end of August HOPS and Siemens Croatia signed a HRK 36.5 million (EUR 4.93 million) contract.