AZU publishes detailed booklet on Croatia geothermal blocks for tender
Invest in Geothermal - Croatian Hydrocarbon Agency (source: AZU)
Carlo Cariaga
19 Jan 2023
The Croatian Hydrocarbon Agency has published an excellent booklet to accompany the recently announced tender for six geothermal exploration blocks.
The Croatian Hydrocarbon Agency (AZU) has published a fantastic document that details the geothermal opportunities in Croatia by way of the six exploration blocks being offered for tender. The booklet provides details on the size of each block, the depth of drilled wells, and the measured temperature for each site. The booklet can be accessed via this link.
AZU has launched a new bidding round for six exploration blocks with identified geothermal potential, as we had previously reported. The bidding round had officially started on 28 December 2022. The deadline for submitting bids will be on 12:00 of 1 June 2023.
The potential of these blocks had been confirmed by previous wells drilled for the exploration and production of oil and gas. This significantly reduces the risk and costs for future investors. The temperatures at all the sites is sufficient for power generation with a total cumulative potential of around 600,000 MWh of electricity. Thanks to data from the oil and industry, the AZU can offer initial data on the geothermal blocks including data from 3500 wells and a large amount of seismic data.
The sites are located within the geographical area of the Drava Basin and across four Croatian countries – Medimurska, Koprivnicko-Križevacka, Podravska, Osjecko-Baranjska. Together, the sites have a total area of over 200 square kilometers. More details on the land area of each exploration block are available in the aforementioned booklet.
In a unique process, investors will compete for an exploration permit, followed by a production permit that will be granted if all conditions from the exploration phase are met over 5 years.
Links to the tender information for each of the exploration blocks being offered are as follows:
“The activation of geothermal energy is not something that happens overnight, and the Republic of Croatia has been intensively working on it for the past four years. These projects can be the backbone of the green transition and the basis of energy stability tomorrow. According to current conservative estimates, geothermal power plants with a total capacity of around 1 GW could be built on the Croatian geothermal sites identified so far,” commented AZU President Marijan Krpan.
Source: AZU
