HEP launches Croatia's largest solar power plant

Croatian state-owned energy supplier Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (HEP) said it put into operation the largest photovoltaic facility in the country - the 31 million kuna ($4.9 million/4.1 million euro) worth Vis solar power plant.

Vis, with an installed capacity of 3.5 MW, is the first of seven photovoltaic plants that HEP plans to bring on stream this year, as part of its 2019-2023 solar power plant construction cycle worth 750 million kuna, it said in a statement on Friday.

The Vis solar power plant was constructed by Croatia's Koncar – Power Plant and Electric Traction Engineering, a unit of electrical equipment manufacturer Koncar Elektroindustrija [ZSE:KOEI]. Koncar also developed and produced all of the plant's 11,200 modules of 340 Wp each and five CON SOL converters of 720 kW each.

Vis is the first solar plant to be built on a Croatian island. It will produce some 5 million kWh of electricity for the citizens of the Adriatic island - enough to meet the needs of some 1,600 households.

In the next three year, HEP plans to invest some 30 million kuna in a number of projects on the Vis island, including the laying of the Hvar-Pakleni Otoci–Vis and Vis-Bisevo undersea electricity cables, as well as the installation of the 20 kW cable lines Ravno Stupisce and Smokova.

Moreover, works on installing HEP's first ELEN electric vehicle charging station on the island also commenced, in the town of Vis, which will be followed by the installation of a similar facility in the town of Komiza.

HEP has said it will build 1,500 MW of new power generation capacity until 2030, as wind and solar power plants will make up almost half of the total.

The construction of several solar power plants is n progress, including the 1 MW Marici plant (worth 9 million kuna); the 2 MW Kastelir 2 plant (15 million kuna); the 6.5 MW Cres plant, which is the largest solar power plant under construction in Croatia worth 41 million kuna; the 5.5 MW Obrovac plant (42.6 million kuna); the 2.1 MW Vrlika Jug solar power plant (11 million kuna); and the 2.5 MW Stankovci plant (26.3 million kuna).

HEP's first wind power plant - the 58 MW Korlat wind farm, is expected to enter into commercial operations by the end of 2020. The investment in the project exceeds 500 million kuna, the company said.

(1 euro = 7.53750 kuna)

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