The Petrol Group to enter electricity generation in solar power plants in Croatia

The information contained herein will be available at Petrol d.d., Ljubljana’s website www.petrol.si for a minimum of 5 years after being published.

Ljubljana, 17 February 2022 – At its 8th meeting held today, the Supervisory Board of Petrol d.d., Ljubljana took note of the operations in the field of renewable electricity generation and gave its consent to the Management Board of Petrol d.d., Ljubljana to implement an investment in solar power plants in the area of Knin, Croatia. These are three large solar power plants with a total installed capacity of 22 MW and the expected electricity generation capacity of 29 GWh; their development was completed in 2021. The solar power plants, whose total investment value is estimated at EUR 17 million, will start generating power at the beginning of 2023.

Energy transition towards a low-carbon company and the development of new technologies are transforming established ways of how energy products are produced, sold, and used. The Petrol Group’s aim is to become a key link in a broader ecosystem by offering energy sources that are adapted to and co-shape the market. Therefore, renewable electricity generation holds a special strategic place in Petrol’s decision to become a modern sustainability-oriented energy company and it is one of the key activities for the Petrol Group’s future development. The commitment to making a transition to green energy means that, in the strategic period of 2021–2025, the Petrol Group will earmark 35% of its total investment potential of EUR 698 million for investments in energy transition, the majority part of which for investments in energy generation from renewable sources.

Having recognised the need to ensure sustainable, green energy to facilitate the transition to a low-carbon society, the Petrol Group has been present in the field of renewable electricity generation for quite some time now. The Petrol Group currently operates 2 wind power plants, 30 small solar power plants, and 6 small hydropower plants.

• In 2017, the first wind power plant, Glunča (Vjetroelektrane Glunča d.o.o.), started operating near Šibenik in Croatia. With its 9 wind turbines and a total nominal power of 20.7 MW, it annually generates between 45-50 GWh of electricity, enough to supply 15 thousand average households.
• The Petrol Group also generates electricity in five small hydropower plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Jeleč small hydropower plant (Petrol Hidroenergija d.o.o. Teslić) is located on the River Govza in the Municipality of Foča. It started operating in 2017 and uses the middle river course. The hydropower plant’s total nominal power is 5 MW, which is enough to generate 14–18 GWh of electricity and supply 4 thousand households. Petrol Power d.o.o. generates and distributes electricity in 4 small hydropower plants on the Jezernica (Jezernica SHPP and Mujakovići SHPP) and Kozica (Majdan SHPP and Botun SHPP) rivers; their total installed capacity is 6.9 MW and the expected annual generation 15 GWh.
• Furthermore, the Petrol Group produces electricity in small photovoltaic power plants on roofs of service stations and some other facilities.

The Petrol Group is aware of the increasing need for electricity and, at the same time, it is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which is why it intensively developed, and invested in, electricity generation from wind power plants and small hydropower plants in 2021.

• At the Ljubač wind power plant (Vjetroelektrana Ljubač d.o.o.) in Croatia, electricity generation was launched in 2021. With its 9 wind turbines, an installed capacity of 32.4 MW, and the anticipated annual electricity generation of 96 GWh, it supplies green energy to as many as 30 thousand average households.
• The Grajići small hydropower plant (STH Energy d.o.o.) started operating in Serbia at the end of 2021. It will annually generate 3.2 GWh of power, which is enough to supply a thousand average households.

The Petrol Group’s total installed capacity for renewable electricity generation stood at 68.9 MW at the end of 2021.

At the Petrol Group, we completed the project for the development of the first three large solar power plants with a total installed capacity of 22 MW and the expected electricity generation capacity of 29 GWh in 2021. The project includes three separate power plants: Suknovci with 10 MW of installed capacity, Pliskovo with 6.3 MW of installed capacity, and Vrbnik with 5.7 MW of installed capacity. All are located in the Šibeniško Kninska County in Croatia and will start generating electricity at the beginning of 2023. The total investment is estimated at EUR 17 million. The Supervisory Board of Petrol d.d., Ljubljana considers the Suknovci, Pliskovo, and Vrbnik solar power plant construction project as appropriate and it gives the Management Board of Petrol d.d., Ljubljana its consent to go ahead with the implementation.

Nada Drobne Popović, President of the Management Board of Petrol d.d., Ljubljana, highlighted: “Petrol is one of the major energy companies in the region and one the first to be actively engaged in the energy transition to a low-carbon company. Investments in the construction of renewable electricity generation are coherent with the Petrol Group’s vision “to become an integrated partner in the energy transition, offering an excellent user experience”; they are mostly focused on the Croatian market, which is very important to the Petrol Group, hence a large portion of our investments go to that market. In 2021, we closed the acquisition of Crodux Derivati Dva, which will enable us to expand our customer portfolio in the field of energy products and energy transition services via the service station sales network in the Croatian market. The Petrol Group already has two wind parks in Croatia - Ljubač and Glunča. It needs to be emphasised that Ljubač is Petrol’s first project that was implemented without any government financial support or grants. The investment in the deployment of three Knin based solar power plants is the Petrol Group’s response to the increased need for electricity; furthermore, this corresponds to Petrol’s commitment to low-carbon and green future transition and it will provide support to companies, local communities and households in their energy transition.”

“The Supervisory Board of Petrol d.d., Ljubljana believes that by investing in the Suknovci, Pliskovo, and Vrbnik solar power plants, the Petrol Group is pursuing its strategic goal which anticipates 160 MW of renewable electricity generation capacity by the end of 2025. The Petrol Group’s focus on generating renewable electricity means that it supplies appropriate energy in terms of environmental impacts and, moreover, it is a good business decision,” stressed President of the Supervisory Board, Janez Žlak.