Croatia’s biggest electro power project so far is underway

Largest electro power project in modern Croatia includes the construction of two large facilities, the Kosinj hydropower system and the Senj 2 hydroelectric power plant, tunnels, new roads, which includes the payment of compensation to locals, the construction of a residential building for those locals whose houses will end up at the bottom of the lake, and much more.

According to media reports, Croatia has set in motion the realisation of two megaprojects in Lika – the Kosinj hydropower system and the Senj 2 hydroelectric power plant. This enormous investment from Hrvatska elektroprivreda – HEP Company is worth 3.4 billion kuna (about EUR450 million), the largest undertaken by Company in the history of modern Croatia, as Vecernji list reports.

This year, Hrvatska elektroprivreda launched the implementation of the second phase of the Senj hydropower system, which consists of two segments; the construction of the Kosinj Hydropower System and the Senj 2 Hydropower Plant, with a total capacity of 412 MW.

The current management of HEP, headed by President Fran Barbarić, has made investment decisions for both segments of the project and actually started the investment.

Positive decisions were obtained on the acceptability of both interventions for the environment and the ecological network, location permits were obtained, in 2019 for HES Kosinj and in 2020 for HPP Senj 2, they explained from HEP.

Although the first shovels were recently  ”put into the ground” as part of this project, it has been going on for a long time, considering that the necessary “paperwork” part of the work started years before the works started, and will last in parallel in the coming years as the project develops. Therefore, despite the scepticism of the locals, the leaders of HEP say that there is no going back now.

According to Company, the second phase will increase electricity generation, improve flood control in the Kosinj Field, improve the reliability of water supply of the southern branch of the Croatian coastal water supply system and improve road and other communal infrastructure. It will also improve the quality of water resources utilization in terms of support to the stability of the power system, by increasing the share of energy from renewable sources in final consumption. The existing Senj HPP is currently providing secondary power/frequency control services to the power system. Additional capacities would increase the reliability of such services and allow higher takeover of energy from renewable sources by providing balancing energy.

At present, according to the ocmpany, the Lika-Gacka hydropower system has a capacity of 238.5 MW and an average annual generation of 1.15 TWh. The construction of Phase 2 facilities will provide for additional capacity of 412 MW and an additional generation of 320 GWh per year, whereby most of the energy will be peak energy. The implementation of Phase 2 of the Senj HPS construction project will result in the total installed capacity in the watershed of 656 MW and an average annual generation of 1.5 TWh.

Source: balkaneu.com

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