Bids for all four geothermal exploration areas set up for tender in Croatia
Map with the exploration blocks on tender in Croatia, June 2020 (source: CHA)
Alexander Richter
2 Sep 2020
Croatia's Hydrocarbon Agency has received nine bids for the four geothermal exploration license it has put up for tender. Results will be announced after evaluation.
On Tuesday, September 1, 2020, the tender for the issuance of permits for the exploration of geothermal waters for four exploration areas in the area of ??Slavonia, Podravina and Me?imurje was closed at Croatia’s Hydrocarbons Agency.
These are the research areas Ernestinovo, Lunjkovec-Kutnjak, Legrad-1 and Merhatovec, and the Tender Commission determined that nine bids from seven different bidders were received for the tender for all offered research areas.
Due to earlier gas and oil exploration work, the geothermal potential of the areas has already been identified. This reduces the risks and development cost for future investors. It is expected that the power generation potential for all four areas is around 50 MW in total.
The next step is to evaluate the received bids, but it is already clear that the tender, despite challenging times, was a complete success because bids were received for all announced locations, and applicants are reputable domestic and foreign companies with experience in developing geothermal projects.
The Hydrocarbons Agency will present details on potential investors and proposed projects after the Commission evaluates the received bids.
It is precisely these projects in Croatia that have the potential to be the flagship of the energy transition, given that exploration will take place in areas where geothermal potential has been determined on wells initially drilled for oil and gas exploration and exploitation.
Source: Croatian Hydrocarbon Agency
