Croatian
state-owned power utility HEP said on Monday it should increase its hydro power
capacity by an additional 111-124 MW thanks to a 3.6 billion kuna ($554
million/468.9 million euro) investment push.
The implementation of these
hydro power investments and upgrades should raise overall annual production by
around 300 GWh, HEP said in a statement.
The investment program spans
funds spent so far on hydro power plant (HPP) upgrades (987 million kuna),
investments earmarked for the next five years (2.1 billion kuna) and such
budgeted for the period beyond (540 million kuna).
HEP group owns and
operates over 4,000 MW of installed generation capacity and 974 MW of heat
production capacity, including 26 hydroelectric plants and eight thermal power
plants fired by oil, natural gas or coal.
HEP generated 14.7 TWh of
electricity in 2013, up 21.1% on the year, with its HPPs contributing 8.1 TWh of
total output.