November the 11th, 2026 – The Pantheon data centre boss has refused to reveal just how much water the giant, guzzling centre will actually consume in Topusko. Criticism of the planned centre in Topusko is growing louder and louder.
The project manager of the data centre in Topusko has openly rejected claims that the enormous consumption of electricity and water would endanger the public or raise their bills. Poslovni reports that Pantheon project manager Mario Gudelj appeared on HRT’s Dnevnik, stating that the data centre’s investors plan to invest more than 500 million euros in new electricity infrastructure, including around 300 kilometres of brand new transmission lines and a new substation.
“If we were to connect to the existing system, then that would be an overload. We’re building new infrastructure, 300 kilometres of new transmission lines and a new substation, and we’re handing all of that over into the ownership of HOPS,” Gudelj said. HOPS had earlier confirmed that the project requires the construction of four new 400-kilovolt transmission lines with a total length of around 300 kilometres and that the investor would bear the connection costs.
one gigawatt – a massive consumer
Pantheon has been conceived as a data and AI campus of one gigawatt power, or 1,000 megawatts. This is an exceptionally large new consumer. HOPS representative Igor Šumonja at the end of October said that the current load of the Croatian electricity system ranges between 2,000 and 3,000 megawatts and that connecting Pantheon by itself would increase the load by approximately a third. Back in July, HOPS initially accepted the study of the optimal technical connection solution, and the investor and the network operator expect the conclusion of the connection contract. The start of construction is planned for 2027, and the investors want to put the first computing capacities into operation in 2029.
“electricity won’t be more expensive” gudelj claims, but topusko locals aren’t having it
One of the main criticisms of the project relates to the question of whether such a large new consumer can increase electricity prices. Gudelj just keeps on claiming that this will not happen. According to his words, the construction of the new network infrastructure will enable the connection of approximately five gigawatts of new renewable energy sources, whose production should be greater than the needs of the data centre itself.
“I don’t know on the basis of what someone made calculations that the price of electricity will rise because of us. I think that those calculations were impossibly made in the way they are presented to the public,” he said. In doing so he also reacted to an earlier statement by a HOPS representative that the operator cannot predict how the project will affect electricity prices. Gudelj emphasised that HOPS manages the transmission network and does not determine market electricity prices.
“we won’t take water from the public water supply” – but refuses to reveal what the water consumption will actually be
The second major question relates to the amount of water needed for cooling the data centre. Gudelj said that Pantheon will not connect to the public water supply system of Topusko or Sisak-Moslavina County. The investors, according to his words, are researching their own wells from which they would draw water, and the final quantity will depend on the results of the research. He did not, however, specify what the total water consumption of the data centre will be. That is quite telling.
criticism and protest against harmful data centres are growing louder and louder…
In more recent weeks, the contested Pantheon project has been encountering increasingly strong opposition from part of the political parties, local initiatives and environmental organisations. Green Action (Zelena akcija) has warned of the possible consumption of large quantities of energy and water, noise, electronic waste and the impact on the local environment. From that organisation they consider that Croatia before approving a project of such proportions needs to determine a national strategy for the development of large data centres. Criticisms have also been expressed by individual SDP deputies and local initiatives from Topusko, who are seeking additional information on the impact of the project on water, the energy network and the local population.
Gudelj, of course, rejects such claims. None are in his interest.
“Those are well-placed untruths that have no basis in anything. Our project will in no way affect things the way it is being pushed through public opinion,” he claimed for HRT. It will be interesting to see how those claims hold up when we take the likes of what happened in Ireland and Finland into account.
Despite Gudelj’s assurances, the project has not yet passed all the procedures necessary for construction. Sisak-Moslavina County has launched amendments to the spatial plan and the procedure of strategic environmental impact assessment. A main assessment of the acceptability of the intervention for the ecological network is also planned. Gudelj himself earlier said that the project cannot start construction before the completion of the spatial planning procedures and the acceptance of the necessary environmental studies. Therefore the final impact of Pantheon on water, the environment and energy infrastructure cannot for now be considered established.
Gudelj also commented on the accusations due to his earlier function in HOPS. He said that he left the executive function of president of the HOPS Management Board in 2019, after which until 2023 he remained an adviser, when he left the company at his own request. He rejected claims that due to his previous work in the transmission system operator he finds himself in a conflict of interest. Gudelj also considers that the current resistance to large data centres in Europe and the USA will not in the long term stop their development, but he expects that future projects will have to invest significantly more in their own energy infrastructure.
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