The potential of a hybrid power plant for the Dubrovnik - Neretva County (Southern Croatia)

Abstract

The Croatian electricity demand exceeds domestic production and about 30% of additional power is covered from imports. The Croatian government is planning to add domestic production capacity, using natural gas and coal as the main fuel. Due to the attractive solar irradiation in Croatia, these new projects offer the possibility to build these thermal power plants as hybrid plants by adding solar energy within the production. The present paper will investigate the potential of solar energy in the Southern Croatian region and its possible contribution in a hybrid set-up. The paper assesses the required input data and presents a hybrid Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) design. The results demonstrate the potential of adding a CSP in a hybrid power plant in Southern Croatia.