Environment Energy Mining Watch SEE|Investors|Croatia: RP Global wind park case study, developers and grid integration

Croatia: RP Global wind park case study, developers and grid integration

, Investors

In Croatia, investors are convinced that it is still possible to secure grid connections for further MWs. There is interest from investors and the banks, but it is very hard to tell when it will be possible to implement additional wind projects.
International banks are interested in financing RES projects in SEE countries but still developers face some local challenges which only seem challenging but in fact the investor follows its path and reaches the goal. During the development stage RES developers in Croatia have to work with four different levels of government.
But developers/investors do expect decision makers to consider all aspects when making decisions, including understanding the needs of developers/investors, and the consequences of their decisions through direct discussion. Investors expect a clear and stable system, which will allows banks to finance renewable energy projects. Sometimes a problem which does not seem to be significant can disable the development or implementation of an entire project.
RP Global which is operating the first build wind park in Croatia has faced many challenges in developing wind farms in Croatia, but by the end of this year, 420 MW of wind farms will be operational in the country. Other countries in the region are following suit, and the next large wind farm in the region will be implemented in Montenegro. In 2015 it is hard to believe that there are no wind farms in operation in Serbia or BiH – the first kWh were expected a long time ago. It seems that there is no government decision restricting wind farm development and there are clearly enough companies which would very much like to invest and implement such projects, as well as available financing. So, what is the problem? Or better yet – are the problems really that big that they cannot be overcome?
In Croatia, investors are convinced that it is still possible to secure grid connections for further MWs. There is interest from investors and the banks, but it is very hard to tell when it will be possible to implement additional wind projects. The Law on Renewable Energy Sources is in the last stages of preparation, and should be adopted by the end of this year. However, there are still arguments being made that wind development should not be provided because, for example, it does not generate enough employment. The fact is that even though wind energy involves a new technology where energy is produced without any manpower, during the preparation of the project, a whole army of experts are engaged on the preparation of studies, design, legal work and financial analysis and are all almost exclusively local experts.

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