Croatia Drills Up to Four Kilometers: Geothermal Exploration Across 23 Fields
ENNA Group's projects in Slatina and Turkish company Soyak's in Legrad are the most advanced, with a 98-megawatt power plant planned in Legrad.
ENNA Group's projects in Slatina and Turkish company Soyak's in Legrad are the most advanced, with a 98-megawatt power plant planned in Legrad.
Croatia's geothermal sector has seen strong development in recent years, with exploration of hot underground waters currently underway across 23 exploration areas. At the same time, commercial exploitation is taking place at 13 fields, according to data from the Ministry of Economy.
Of the 13 exploitation fields, six are designated for electricity production. The remaining seven fields are intended for thermal energy production, used for district heating, residential and commercial heating, and agricultural purposes.
The Ministry of Economy emphasizes that geothermal projects are at various stages of development. The most advanced are the electricity generation projects being developed by ENNA Group at the Slatina 2 exploitation field and Turkish company Soyak at the Legrad 1 exploitation field.
The Ministry recently prepared a draft decision allowing Terra Energy Generation Company, owned by Soyak, to continue developing the geothermal power plant project in Legrad. The plan involves drilling a new development well, LEGRAD GT-4, with a planned depth of approximately four kilometers.
The well will be located at the Legrad 1 geothermal field, where a power plant with a capacity of 98 megawatts is expected to be built in the foreseeable future. "The investor is preparing documentation for the power plant to obtain a location permit," Ivan Sabolić, the mayor of Legrad municipality, told Hina.
Both key projects have completed the exploration phase and are now moving into preparation for the construction of production facilities.
In addition to electricity generation, significant progress is also being made in the district heating segment. A project carried out by the Hydrocarbon Agency, funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, confirmed the presence of geothermal resources in Velika Gorica, Osijek, Vinkovci, and Zaprešić. The next phase of developing production and injection systems in these cities is currently being prepared.
Geothermal initiatives are also being developed by many local governments, including Bjelovar, Križevci, Lipik, Kutina, Slavonski Brod, Vukovar, and Dugo Selo.
