Germany's wpd, Danske Commodities sign PPA deal for Orlice wind farm in Croatia.

German energy project developer and operator wpd and Danish energy trader Danske Commodities said that they have signed a fixed-price power purchase agreement (PPA) for the Orlice wind farm in Croatia.

“The deal is the very first post feed-in PPA to be consumed in Croatia between two non-state market participants and marks a new chapter in the energy transition of the Balkans,” wpd and Danske Commodities said in a joint statement. Under the agreement, Danske Commodities will be responsible for the trading and balancing of 9.6 MW capacity installed in Orlice, which is owned by wpd.

Orlice, an onshore wind farm located near Sibenik in southern Croatia, is supplying more than 5,000 households with sustainable energy. It was developed in 2009 by wpd, and the company has now signed the first agreement for Orlice with a commercial offtaker.

“Just as wpd was among the first wind farm developers in Croatia, we are now pioneering a PPA with another non-state market participant immediately after the expiry of the original feed-in tariff agreement concluded with the Croatian state market operator for the Orlice project,” said Zoran Obradovic, managing director of the local unit of wpd, wpd Adria.

The energy transition is gaining momentum across Europe, creating new opportunities for the Balkan energy market.

Last month Croatia's prime minister Andrej Plenkovic announced that Croatia intends to cut carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 and to abandon the use of coal by 2033. The country is targeting a 39% share of renewables in final energy consumption in 2030, while the EU is aiming for 32%.

“With this first commercial PPA signed, we hope to expand the development of renewables by strengthening the investment climate for future energy projects – and to set a standard for more deals to be made across the Balkan region,” said Tor Mosegaard, head of European power trading unit at Danske Commodities.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!