Bukotermal starts design, permitting for geothermal power project in Croatia

Castle of Varazdin, Varazdin County, Croatia (source: Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Carlo Cariaga 26 Apr 2024

Bukotermal, a joint venture company owned by the Varazdin County (85%) and the Mali Bukovec municipality (15%), has started the design and permitting phase for a proposed 16-MW geothermal power project in Varazdin County in Croatia. When completed, this will be the second geothermal power plant in Croatia and the first in the country’s northern region.

Preparations for the construction of the geothermal power plant comes after the acquisition by Bukotermal of the property in which the Lunkjovec-1 well is located. This was a vital piece of the planned project, as the well will be used for reinjection of cooled fluids back into the geothermal reservoir. Two new injection wells are also planned to be drilled on this piece of land.

With all property-legal issues now resolved, Bukotermal has proceeded to be design of the power plant, as well as the process of obtaining a building permit for the construction of the power plant, hot water pipeline, and associated engineering and electrical facilities.

Exploration work on an existing borehole, Kutnjak-1, was started by Bukotermal in 2022. The two wells (Lunkjovec-1 and Kutnjak-1) were drilled in the 1970s and can support a maximum output of 2 MW. After a few years, a conclusion was reached that the potential geothermal resource at the site can support a 16-MW geothermal power facility. The exploration work of Bukotermal indicated a geothermal resource with temperature of about 142 °C at a depth of 2.4 kilometers.

In addition to electricity generation, the resource can also supply around 90 MW of thermal energy for agrothermal purposes, such as heating greenhouses for fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

Source: niZagorjemalo