Germany's E.ON, Croatia's Valamar launch solar energy project

E.ON Hrvatska, the Croatian unit of German energy company E.ON, and local hotel operator Valamar Riviera [ZSE:RIVP] said on Monday that they launched a joint solar power project, covering 5% of Valamar's energy needs.

This is the biggest project in Croatia under the Energy Service Company (ESCO) model of financing, in which the solar panels are owned by E.ON's subsidiary Solnet, while all of the electricity produced covers Valamar's own needs, E.ON and Valamar said in a joint statement.

They did not disclose the value of the investment.

The solar panels were installed on 26 hotels and campsites on the Adriatic coast. Under the ESCO model, the investment is expected to be returned in ten years and following that period Valamar will become the owner of the panels, E.ON Hrvatska spokeswoman Sandra Koroljevic told SeeNews.

Valamar commented in a statement that through this initiative it wants to highlight the importance that it attaches to sustainable development and corporate social responsibility in which it has invested more then 400 million kuna ($60 million/53 million euro) in the last five years.

Valamar's shares traded at 31.90 kuna intraday on the Zagreb bourse, down 1.24%.

(1 euro=7.515 Croatian kuna)

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