Conex Invest Finanzierungs, an Austrian company is investing in the development of a 60 MW ground-mounted solar power plant in Croatia, through the local firm Photo Volt. The investment is valued at EUR 75.6 million and will partly be financed by European Union funds. The project, also called MVES 60, will be located in Martinska Ves municipality in Sisak-Moslavina county in central Croatia and spread across 65 hectares. The MVES 60 will have 207,300 photovoltaic panels.
Croatian firm Microstar, based in the city of Bjelovar, has been selected to develop project documentation and perform the construction works. It is expected to take 48 months to be completed once notice of commencement is submitted and expected to generate about 77 GWh of electricity per year once it starts operating. The power produced will be delivered to the network of the Croatian Transmission System Operator. The annual revenue from the projected is expected to be EUR 4.98 million. The projected lifespan of MVES 60 is slightly over 30 years, with electricity production decreasing by 10% in the first 10 years of operation and by a further 10% over the following 15 years, continuing to decline at the same rate for 5 more years.
Croatia currently has 100 MW of installed solar power capacity, but it plans to expand it to 1 GW since the share of solar in its electricity mix is just 0.4 per cent. As per industry reports, the solar energy potential in Croatia is estimated at 6.8 GW, of which 5.3 GW for utility-scale photovoltaic plants and 1.5 GW for rooftop solar systems.