Croatian media reported that the national oil company INA is planning to build a solar power plant with installed capacity of 2-3 MW on the site of its oil refinery in Sisak.
INA has already submitted a request to the Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection for an estimation of the need for environmental impact assessment. The company plans to install solar panels on an area of 33,000 square meters which is mainly free of buildings at the moment, or it will remove existing facilities before the start of construction works. Part of the electricity generated by the future plant will be used by INA’s production facilities, while the majority of produced electricity will be sold to state-owned power utility HEP.
In March, INA said that it has decided to start bitumen production at its oil refinery in Sisak, which should take place in March 2021. The company‘s management said that processing of crude oil at Sisak is planned until the end of the first half of 2019, after which the refinery will enter the transformation process. It will continue as a logistics center, while other projects will include the production of bitumen, lubricants and potentially production of bio fuels.
This is a part of INA‘s 2023 downstream program, along with the transformation of its other oil refinery in Sisak into an industrial site, effectively closing the plant. The program is focused on ensuring sustainability and profitability of refining and marketing operations, as well as the whole company through changes of the current downstream business model. INA said that although the refinery in Sisak will be closed, it will still remain a valuable par of INA‘s operation and a major employer. The alternatives for Sisak would include the development of bio-component refining and petrochemical production conditional to viable business case, and positive development of EU and Croatian legislation. It would also include a modern logistics hub, bitumen, renewables, lubricant production or other sustainable and economically viable operations.
