S2 - Wind farm Ravne II
Investor - Adria Wind Power d.o.o.
Location - Pag
State - Croatia
Sea level - 180 m
Croatia has a total area of 89,810 km² with a share of 56,610 km² on the continent and 33,200 km² on the Adriatic Sea. It is inhabited by 4.4 million people. The territory is characterised by a long coastal line with numerous small islands. The inland is dominated by the mountain range of the Dinaric Alps in the south-western part and the Pannonian Plain in the north.
There is currently one wind farm with an installed capacity of 6 MW in operation. Estimates of Croatia’s technically exploitable wind potential predict the achievable power generating capacity as 1,300 MW.
Wind Farm Site
The ‘SEEWIND’ demonstration site no 2 is located on the island of Pag, 45 km north of Zadar in Dalmatia. At this site a wind farm consisting of 7 VESTAS V 52 wind turbines has been in operation since November 2004 (Ravne I). The wind turbines are situated on a plateau at a sea level of 180 m. The plateau extends the length of the long stretched-out island and also runs parallel to the coast line which is 3 km away. The terrain of the plateau consists of karst and falls off steeply in the direction towards the eastern coast-line of the island. At a distance of 3 km from the shore the Velebit mountain range rises up very steeply from the sea.
The wind flow on the island of Pag is mainly caused by ‘Bora’, which is generated on the main-land. After passing the barrier of the Velebit mountains, ‘Bora’ falls down very harshly to the Adri-atic Sea. This meteorological phenomenon causes excellent wind conditions on the islands or other locations along the coast but it is fairly unpredictable and shows extreme characteristics. After one year of experience in operating wind farm Ravne I, the awareness of the extreme conditions is a proven fact. Many cut-offs of turbines caused by extreme wind speeds and turbulences, significant energy losses which are probably caused by extreme wind shear and an unexplained damage to a rotor blade underline the specific wind conditions.
Wind farm project Ravne II
The existing wind farm will be extended by maximum seven additional wind turbines. The proposed pilot turbine will be part of the extension of the wind farm. The location and number of new turbines and the exact location of the pilot turbine has not yet been decided and depends on the results of new measurements and site evaluation.
Existing documents and approvals
At the site of Ravne 7 wind turbines with a capacity of each 850 kW are in operation since November 2004. For building up the second phase of wind farm Ravne the approvals are commissioned. For construction works on the proposed pilot turbine one of the approved sites will be used and therefore a new approval procedure has to be requested.