26 Nov Public hearings on energy facilities of Vis Viva began

On 21 November 2016 began public hearings on Environmental Impact Studies for Reversible Hydropower Plant (PHSP) Vrdovo, Combined-Cycle Cogeneration Gas Power Plant (CCGT) Peruća, Connecting Pipeline Dugopolje-Peruća and Transmission Line Peruća-Dugopolje with Hrvace Switchyard. Public hearings will be conducted until 21 December 2016.

These facilities should be constructed within Vis Viva project, which is being developed in the wider area of accumulation reservoir Peruća, in Split-Dalmatia County. This project gives strong support to increasing use of renewable sources (RES) in electricity production in Croatia. Its successful implementation will help to conserve the stability of the power system which has reached the limits of effective acceptance of RES, especially wind power, which in recent years has been recording growth in installed capacities in the southern parts of Croatia.

Two procedures of public hearing – presentations of Environmental Impact Studies (EIS) will be conducted, one for PHSP Vrdovo and the other for other planned facilities – CCGT Peruća, Connecting Pipeline Dugopolje-Peruća and Transmission Line Peruća-Dugopolje with Hrvace Switchyard. All studies were made by Elektroprojekt company, and before entering public hearing procedure, special expert committee of the Ministry of Environment and Energy assessed them as complete and expertly grounded. EIS provide description of the project, its impacts, but also proposals on mitigation measures and environmental monitoring. In addition to EIS, Elektroprojekt produced non-technical summaries containing mandatory information of each study. In order to provide a better understanding of key technical terms, Elektroprojekt prepared glossary which will introduce the public with key technical concepts essential for understanding the content.

Director of the special-purpose project company MCC ekskluzivne nekretnine Zoran Burić, developer of the project’s energy facilities, noted that all relevant state institutions are familiar with Vis Viva project from the beginning, just as Municipality of Hrvace and Split-Dalmatia County, which are involved in its design and provide all the necessary support. “We have been preparing studies seriously for a long time and we put great effort in that, so I invite all citizens and other interested public to actively participate in the public hearings”, said Burić. He also emphasized that the goal of public hearings is to inform citizens about EIS on timely and comprehensive manner, but also local authorities, non-governmental organizations, and other interested public so they could jointly consider whether all important aspects of the environmental impact and protection measures are being covered. Public hearings are integral part of EIS, procedure for assessing the impact of planned facilities on specific environmental components such as soil, water, forests, air, wildlife, in order to determine protective measures for reduction of the impact to a minimum.

Interested public will be able to review and give comments and opinions on PHSP Vrdovo EIS every day from 8 AM to 1 PM at the City of Vrlika and Hrvace Municipality Hall. Two public presentations will be held during public hearing, where Elektroprojekt will present impacts of PHSP Vrdovo along with proposed environmental measures. Public presentation of PHSP Vrdovo EIS will be held on 12 December 2016 at 11 AM at Vrlika House of Culture (Bana Berislavića), and then at 2 PM at the Municipality of Hrvace.

EIS of CCGT Peruća, as well as of Connecting Pipeline Dugopolje-Peruća and Transmission Line Peruća-Dugopolje with Hrvace Switchyard will be available to interested public for review and comments on the working day from 8 AM to 1 PM at the City of Sinj and Hrvace Municipality, in the period from 21 November to 21 December. Public presentation of CCGT Peruća EIS will be held on 16 December at 10 AM at the Municipality of Hrvace and at 1.30 PM at the City of Sinj on the same date.

Presentation of Connecting Pipeline Dugopolje-Peruća EIS will be held on 16 December at 11 AM at the Municipality of Hrvace and at the City of Sinj at 2.30 PM on the same date.

Presentation of EIS of Transmission Line Peruća-Dugopolje with Hrvace Switchyard will be held on 12 December at noon at the Municipality of Hrvace and at 3.30 PM at the City of Sinj.

Citizens who will not be able to attend public presentations of the Environmental Impact Studies, and who want to give their comments, can deliver them in writing form during public hearing procedure to the Department of Communal, Municipal Infrastructure and Environmental Affairs at Split-Dalmatia County, Domovinskog rata 2, Split, till 21 December. Questions and comments can also be submitted via email address pitanja@vis-viva-energija.com. In addition, all interested public can read summaries of the EIS on the website http://www.vis-viva-energija.com/ under Dialogue section – Non-technical summaries.

Upon successful completion of environmental impact assessment of Vis Viva project, and positive decision of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy on environmentally acceptable planned procedure, Vis Viva project will come one step closer to the location permits which are crucial to its further development. Vis Viva project is a potential greenfield investment in Split-Dalmatia County with estimated value of EUR 1 billion. The Croatian Government recognized it as a strategic investment project. Vis Viva is one of two strategic projects from Croatia which have been published on the European Investment Project Portal (https://ec.europa.eu/eipp/desktop/en/projects/project-113.html).

Schedule of public hearings