Croatia’s northern town of Djurdjevac and the company Nova Natura are currently discussing a partnership to explore the nearby Lescan area and build a geothermal cogeneration plant with 34 MW of CHP capacity.

Nova Natura responded to the town council’s public call for a partner, which was posted on 30 March.

The agribusiness company has offered to finance geothermal exploration to the tune of HRK 70m (EUR 9.3m) and provide an additional HRK 110m for the construction of a 13 MW geothermal power plant that would include a heating system with 21 MW of capacity. According to a report from the local online news portal Prigorski.hr, exploration work is expected to last for two years.

The heating energy produced by the geothermal plant would be used by Nova Natura, which plans to invest more than HRK 500m in its local agricultural business over the next three years, but also by public buildings and the town’s business zone, according to information presented on the town’s official website.

“We are negotiating a partnership agreement at the moment and all details will be presented during the next session of the town council in April,” the town’s mayor Hrvoje Janci told Montel in an emailed statement on Friday.

The agreement will also cover broader cooperation between the town and Nova Natura on other potential geothermal projects in the Lescan area, including their joint application for a geothermal concession in the area pursuant to a public tender that the Croatian hydrocarbon agency is expected to publish soon.

(EUR 1 = HRK 7.54)