Star Energy's Croatian subsidiary(1) has been issued with two highly prospective geothermal licences by the Croatian Hydrocarbon Agency, as part of the current licencing round announced on 28 December 2022.

The two licences, each with an initial five year exploration term, Sječe and Pčelić, 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.

Sječe Licence

A 32km² licence, located in north-eastern Croatia within the Drava Depression of the Pannonian basin the licence has 356km of 2D seismic, c.20km² of 3D seismic data.  Nine exploration wells have been drilled and up to three different hot water reservoirs identified.

Initial appraisal demonstrates that a 15-25MWe (one million watts of electric capacity) powerplant is feasible, with an attractive NPV and IRR in the high teens.

Pčelić Licence

A 32km² licence, located in northern Croatia within the Drava Depression of the Pannonian basin, the licence has 262km of 2D seismic and two exploration wells drilled.  Measured temperatures at the bottom of the two exploration wells were 196⁰ C (Pče-1) and 207⁰ C (Pče-1AL). 

Initial appraisal demonstrates that a 20-30MWe powerplant is feasible with similar NPV and IRR as Sječe.

The Croatian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development , Davor Filipović 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."

Commenting, CEO Chris Hopkinson, said:
"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."
 
(1) Star Energy's Croatian geothermal interests are within a 51% owned joint venture company, A14 Energy.

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