Star Energy has announced its Croatian subsidiary has been issued with two highly prospective geothermal licences by the Croatian Hydrocarbon Agency, as part of the current licensing round announced on 28 December 2022.
The two licences, each with an initial five-year exploration term, Sjece and Pcelic, are located in the Drava depression geological region (the southwestern area of the Pannonian basin), the same region in which its recently acquired Ernestinovo licence is located. The licence commitments are to drill four and three wells respectively, however given the density of existing data on the licences, it is expected that only the first well on each licence will be an exploration/appraisal well.
Sjece licence
A 32 km2 licence, located in north-eastern Croatia within the Drava Depression of the Pannonian basin the licence has 356 km of 2D seismic, approximately 20 km2 of 3D seismic data. Nine exploration wells have been drilled and up to three different hot water reservoirs identified.
Initial appraisal demonstrates that a 15 – 25 MWe (one million watts of electric capacity) power plant is feasible, with an attractive NPV and IRR in the high teens.
Pcelic licence
A 32 km2 licence, located in northern Croatia within the Drava Depression of the Pannonian basin, the licence has 262 km of 2D seismic and two exploration wells drilled. Measured temperatures at the bottom of the two exploration wells were 196°C (Pce-1) and 207°C (Pce-1AL).
Initial appraisal demonstrates that a 20 – 30 MWe power plant is feasible with similar NPV and IRR as Sjece.
The Croatian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Davor Filipovic, commented: “Activating geothermal potential is a significant step towards increasing energy production on Croatian soil. In addition to increasing the security of our state by increasing our own energy production from renewable, clean sources, activating geothermal potential brings a number of benefits to the economy. Geothermal potential is becoming a resource that will play a significant role in creating energy independence and sufficiency of the Republic of Croatia.”
Star Energy CEO, Chris Hopkinson, added: “We are very pleased to be have been issued these two highly prospective licences. Now with a portfolio of three licences, including Ernestinovo, we have demonstrated that our Croatian joint venture is well positioned to be a key player in delivering Geothermal Energy in Croatia in line with the local government’s targets. We have already commenced with preparing the site for our first well re-entry on Ernestinovo and look forward to commencing work on these two licences.”
Source : Energy Global