Croatian Ina to study feasibility of 300 MW offshore wind farm

Date: May 26^th 2023

Topic: Electricity , Renewables , En.vision

Croatian oil and gas company Ina has been awarded EUR 252,500 from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for feasibility studies on the construction of a 300 MW offshore wind farm in the northern Adriatic.

The area encompasses around 2,200 km² of sea between the cities of Pula in Croatia and Ravenna in Italy. Ina has been measuring wind potential on its natural gas platforms in the area for the past year.

The measuring itself has already been completed, but the calculations of wind energy yield on which the scope and size of the project can be further elaborated have not, the company told Montel in an e-mailed statement this week.

The results of the measurements will determine “the specific business decisions the company will make regarding the potential construction of the offshore wind farm” and whether Ina will use EU funds for further studies which could be finished in the spring of 2025 at the earliest, the company added.

Possible launch in 2029

The grant from CEF Energy can be used to co-fund not only exploratory tasks to identify and develop the main parameters of the planned project, such as technical assessments, environmental and social impact screening, but also to formalise a cross-border cooperation mechanism between Croatia and Italy.

The EU Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (Cinea) wrote in a separate statement that if the studies’ outcome is positive, and subject to the final project investment decision, the construction of the wind farm could start in 2026 for a launch of commercial operations in 2029.

“This will improve significantly both countries’ security of energy supply and increase renewable energy generation capacity,” Cinea said on its website.

A recent EBRD-funded study conducted by the Croatian renewables association OIEH determined that Croatia has the potential to install up to 25 GW of fixed-bottom offshore wind capacity in the northern Adriatic.