The single largest current investment by HEP, Croatian national electricity provider, is the construction of the Korlat wind farm near Benkovac in Zadar county.
The planned connection capacity of the wind farm will amount to 58 MW (18 turbines of 3.6 MW each), which will make it the biggest wind farm in Croatia, once it’s finished. It is also expected that the annual farm will generate around 170 GWh, which makes up around one percent of the total yearly electricity consumption in Croatia and is enough to supply more than 50,000 households with electricity. HEP reported that the total value of the investment is more than 500 million kunas.
A large German company specialized in the design and manufacture of the wind turbines will be in charge of constructing and delivering the turbines themselves. On the other hand, the construction of the infrastructure for the farm, as well as the grid connection, will be performed by several Croatian companies. The plan is for the Korlat wind farm to be fully operational by August 2020.
Zadar County Prefect Božidar Longin said at the ceremonial opening of the construction, attended by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, that this is the further proof that their County is committed to green energy, which is why they invested into the Atlases of wind and sun energy. Frane Barbarić, the President of HEP’s Management Board, added that HEP is preparing more wind power plant projects, which are being developed as part of the renewable scenario of development until 2030.
By 2030, HEP has plans to produce 350 MW in their wind farms, and the same amount of electricity in solar power plants. Those two renewable green energy sources combined will produce the same amount of electricity as Krško Nuclear Power Plant. One of the solar power plants considered within that plan would be constructed right next to the Korlat Wind Farm, which would make Korlat a unique location for green energy generation in Croatia and beyond.
