April the 10th, 2024 – Under two hours outside Zagreb lies Topusko, an underdeveloped municipality that is brimming with thermal potential. The Topusko smart thermal project is worth a massive 100 million euros.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Jadranka Dozan writes, everything revolves around thermal water in Topusko, at least according to Domagoj Mosler, the director of Topusko Spa and Top Terme. However, this municipality in chronically overlooked Banovina still isn’t using the full potential of its local geothermal energy, and that’s been a hot topic lately. To speak more specifically, they use only a quarter of the available capacity of the wells, of which there are four in total. The first was put into operation back in 1977 (before that they used thermal water from natural springs there at all).
Mosler’s mission since 2014, which is the year he became the head of a health resort with one of the highest quality thermal waters in Europe, is to enable the realisation of Topusko smart thermal potential. That would involve making the Topusko a much more modernly equipped and attractive destination. It would also mean that almost every inhabitant has their home heated using energy from geothermal sources, and ultimately to stimulate the economic development of the municipality by enabling agricultural production in geothermally heated greenhouses.
All of this has been clearly included in the Topusko smart thermal project, which totals the hefty aforementioned sum of 100 million euros. Such costly investments are necessary because there was little or no investment in the infrastructure thus far, and many facilities were destroyed during the war.
Today, the wells, the hot water pipes, the hotel, but also the entire complex of Spas and Top Terme are in need of renovation. For that, the powers that be there need to obtain all the appropriate documentation, which is by no means cheap. However, in spite of that, things are slowly moving forward for the Topusko smart thermal project.
According to Mosler, works worth nine million euros are either currently underway or completed. The building of Petrova gora has also been energetically renovated. The renovated Villa Zelengaj, in which 1.1 million euros were invested, will soon open its doors.
The works on the Cinematograf building, worth one million euros, should be finished by the summer. From the Obzor 2020 programme, the central heating station and some of the heating pipes have been almost renovated. Project documentation is being prepared for the reconstruction and upgrading, i.e. expansion of the hot water network, Dom 3 is being designed, a complex that was destroyed in the war, and which should be transformed into a new hospital building.
In short, there is a lot of work going on as part of the commendable Topusko smart thermal project, and the most demanding part of it all should start soon. Based on the invitation from NPOO entitled “The regional diversification and specialisation of Croatian tourism through investments in the development of tourist products with high added value”, the Topusko Spa, founded 206 years ago, is starting a complete reconstruction.
The project, which they named Topusko at the source of health – health and wellness tourism in a sustainable way, is worth 27.4 million euros. 17.2 million of that sum was secured through EU co-financing.
