Knin - Slovenian energy company Petrol has opened its second wind farm in Croatia. Ljubač, situated near the town of Knin in south Croatia, has nine turbines, which should generate around 96 gigawatts of electricity a year, covering the needs of 30,000 households.

The company built its first wind farm in Croatia, near the coastal town of Šibenik, in 2017. Glunča has nine turbines, which can produce power for 15,000 households.

However, the new facility is Petrol's first project that has been set up without any grants or subsidies, according to Tuesday's press release.

The electricity generated at Ljubač will be supplied under market conditions via Petrol's infrastructure, Borut Bizjak, director of production of renewables, said.

Petrol has most of its renewable energy production facilities in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia, the countries with a great potential of wind, sun and water.

The company sees wind energy as a great potential since wind is to become the main source of electricity in Europe by 2030.

Petrol wants to contribute to Slovenia's environmental goals in renewable sources of energy, and is intensively investing in wind, solar and hydro electricity production.

At the end of 2020, Petrol reached 33.5 megawatts in installed power from renewable sources of energy, while the plan by 2025 is to raise it to over 160 megawatts.

"By building our own production facilities, we are following the strategic guideline of becoming a visible regional supplier of comprehensive energy and environmental solutions and a partner in the development of circular economy for a transition to a low-carbon society," Bizjak added.