The President of Croatia inaugurates the first ACCIONA wind farm in the country

Croatian Republic President Ivo Josipović inaugurated the Jelinak wind farm yesterday (Sunday). With a capacity of 30 megawatts, it is the first installed by ACCIONA Energía in the country and is capable of covering the electricity demand of over 30,000 Croatian households. ACCIONA is the first Spanish wind power developer to put a wind farm into service in the country. The ceremony was attended by ACCIONA Vice-president Juan Ignacio Entrecanales and ACCIONA Energía CEO Rafael Mateo.

Located in the region of Split-Dalmatia, the Jelinak wind farm is made up of twenty 1.5-MW turbines of ACCIONA Windpower technology. It will produce around 81 million kilowatt-hours per year and replace fossil fuel equivalent to about 48,000 barrels of oil in the same period. It will also avoid the emission of 77,841 metric tons of CO2 to the atmosphere from conventional coal-fired power stations, with a cleaning effect on the air similar to that of almost four million trees.

More than 500 people worked on the activities related to the entry into service of this wind park, half of them in the consortium that was awarded the construction contract and a similar figure in the manufacture - at the shipyards in Split - of the twenty 80-meter-high steel towers for the facility.

As well as the Croatian President, the ceremony was attended by the Prefect of Split-Dalmatia County, Zlatko Ževrnja, and the Spanish ambassador to Croatia, Rodrigo Aguirre de Cárcer. ACCIONA Energía's delegation was completed by its Wind Power Development Director Joaquín Castillo and its Director in Croatia, Mirko Tunjić.

In his speech, ACCIONA Vice-president Juan Ignacio Entrecanales highlighted the environmental, energy and socio-economic benefits of renewable energy sources and urged the Croatian authorities to step up their drive to develop them, in line with the objectives set by the European Union, which Croatia joined last July.

This wind farm is the first of a series that ACCIONA Energía plans to implement in Croatia. The company is currently applying for a further two wind farms in the country, with a total capacity of 78 MW.

ACCIONA Energía is one of the world leaders in wind power. It owns facilities in 14 countries totalling 7,159 MW, of which 34% are located outside Spain, and has 1,341 MW in service in other renewable technologies.

Growing in wind power

Croatia offers good prospects for wind power development, given its high energy dependence and the large role played by fossil fuels in its generation mix. The fact that it has recently joined the European Union could be a boost for this in the light of the objectives set by the EU in terms of covering energy demand from renewables.

In 2012 Croatia imported 43.5% of the electricity it consumed. Own generation is distributed almost equally between thermo (47.5%) and hydroelectric power (48.2%), with a small input from wind power (3.3%) and other sources (1%).

However, the wind power projects developed in recent months, reaching an installed capacity of 225 MW, and those coming in the future, will increase the contribution of wind energy to covering the country's electricity demand.