SARAJEVO, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Croatia has granted permits for exploration of five geothermal blocks based in the Drava River basin in the northeast of the country, unlocking a 400 million euro ($421.64 million) investment into the green energy, officials said on Friday.
The Croatian Hydrocarbon Agency (CHA) has identified around 200 wells originally drilled for oil and gas exploration, as well as 75 areas suitable for district heating or power generation development, foreseeing the potential of over 1 gigawatt (GW) of energy.
After evaluating 16 bids from 11 local and foreign companies that applied to its auction of six blocks, the ministry of economy and sustainable development granted permits for exploration to the oil company INA, the UK-funded company IGeoPen and Turkish-funded firm Viola Energy Generation, the CHA said in a statement.
The bid for one site will be annulled as no bidder applied for it, said Martina Tuschl, the director of the CHA's geothermal energy sector.
"The works include 21 geothermal blocs," Tuschl was quoted as saying in the statement. "Expected value of the investment amounts to over 400 million euros, while the total potential of all sites is seen at about 600,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of electric energy."
Forty percent of the investment will go for drilling and the rest for building electric plants in the next couple of years.
Davor Filipovi, the minister of economy and sustainable development, said the produced energy will supply power to 200,000 households. The ministry supported CHA's research of the geothermal potential with 30 million euros.
The CHA said that geothermal gradient in the Croatian Pannonian area is 60% higher that the European average.
EU member Croatia, which imports up to 40% of its energy needs, aims to produce 60% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030. ($1 = 0.9487 euros) (Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
