Enna Geo, a subsidiary of the Energia Naturalis (ENNA Group) has acquired a majority stake in the trading company Geotermalni Izvori, thus acquiring the exploration permit for the Babina Greda 2 area in the county of Vukovar-Srijem in Croatia. The shares in the company have been transferred to Enna Geo’s daughter company, GeoPower Babina Greda, following a public tender announced earlier this year.
Geotermalni Izvori had previously been co-owned by the Vukovar-Srijem County and the Municipality of Babina Greda. Both shareholders sold their 45% stake to GeoPower Babina Greda, each on retaining 5% of the shares. Thus, Geotermalni Izvorii now 90% owned by the ENNA Group. An offer of EUR 900,000 was accepted for the acquisition.
The Vukovar-Srijem County and the Municipality of Babina Greda has provided all the pre-conditions to start geothermal drilling in the Babina Greda 2 site. However, the large investment needed to move forward with the project is beyond that the County and Municipality can provide. Thus, a decision was made to sell the trading company and exploration rights.
“My locals know how to say ‘by the time something moves, the water will cool down below.’ The water will not cool down. I am extremely happy that we got good partners that will certainly find funds and invest in the further development of geothermal energy in the area of the municipality Babina Greda,” said Josip Krnic, Mayor of Babina Greda. He also further indicated that there are potential new investors for the project from Norway and Slovakia.
The ENNA Group already holds the exploration rights for the Babina Greda 1 site, taking over the project from entrepreneur Dragan Jurilj back in 2022.
“With how the exploration fields of Babina Greda 1 and Babina Greda 2 are located on one geothermal deposit that forms one geological and hydrodynamic unit, our decision to acquire Geotermalni Izvori is logical from both a technical and an economic point of view,” commented Ivana Ivancic, Director of Enna Geo.
The geothermal potential of Babina Greda had already been identified back in 2019, and development of this site had been intensively targeted since 2020.
Ivancic further stated that the plan is to develop the two field to produce geothermal power. However, there is a whole spectrum of opportunities that the project can create considering the multiplier effect of geothermal development on the economy.
