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Croatia’s first geothermal plant operation target of May 2017

Croatia’s first geothermal plant operation target of May 2017 An early model of the planned plant at Velika Ciglena (source: geoen.eu)
Alexander Richter 21 May 2016

Croatia's first geothermal power plant is expected to start operation in May 2017, according to the developer.

Croatia’s first geothermal power plant is currently being developed with the help of an investor from Turkey.

Dragan Jurilj, the owner of Geothermal company, together with his Turkish partner Muharrem Balet, the owner of MB Holding and Mega energy group in Turkey, is investing into the first Croatian geothermal plant in Velika Ciglena near Bjelovar.

The plant will be put into trial operation next year in May. Meanwhile, the Croatian and Turkish partners are also eying further development in the country.

In a comment, Jrilji says that drilling costs represent around 50% of the total project cost. The plant needs four wells, which each one costing around $4.5 million (Croatian kuna 30m), the up-front cost and risk is high. The Bjelovar plant will have the net capacity of 10 MW.

The Turkish partner MB Holding has been working

Muharrem Balet of MB Holding has been working with geothermal energy for 40 years and has five plants in Turkey, while Croatia is his first foreign project. He made a decision to do a project in Croatia because of the similarity of geological features.