ZAGREB, 29 March 2022 - INA has begun measuring wind speeds at two offshore gas platforms in the Adriatic Sea in an effort to explore the potential of a possible offshore wind park, the energy company reported on Tuesday.

This is the first offshore project to measure wind speeds in Croatia and gauging will last for at least 12 months.

INA would then be in a position to estimate the full potential of wind and its feasibility taking into consideration industrial standards and then assess whether to invest in this type of renewable source for electricity generation, INA underscored.

The company has already begun construction on solar power plants in Molve and in Sisak which will annually produce 16,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity. This is sufficient to cater for the average consumption of 4,800 households in Croatia. The first electricity from these power plants should be released into the electricity grid in 2023.

"With this project, INA is taking a step towards new business based on renewable energy sources and mobility as well as other activities in which we see a synergy with our current business activities. We are interested in feasible opportunities that can upgrade our existing value chain and which are at the same time adapted to Croatia's and the European Union's Green Deal," the director of INA's Ventures & Innovations Ante Crljenko said as carried in a press release.

The project has been awarded to the Megajoule Adria company and the company's director Leo Jerkić said that the entire installation will be very demanding as this is the first of its kind in the region.

INA underscored that it is strongly turning towards green technology in line with the company's development guidelines and the MOL Group's "Shape Tomorrow 2030+" strategy.

Hungary's MOL Group, which holds over 49% interest in INA, has said that it will allocate 50% of its total investments in sustainable projects by 2030, INA said in the press release.

In all fairness, we were warned: the weather forecasts late last week were quite clear, and even the European central weather warnings service Meteoalarm was clear that Sunday was supposed to bring strong winds throughout Croatia. The alarm was strongest for the central part of the country, where capital Zagreb is located, as well as regions around Velebit mountain, which are much more adapted too withstanding strong winds, as they are more frequent there. But, still, when Spring Storm 2019 hit Croatia yesterday, we were still surprised with the strength, and by now it's quite unusual how long it's been going on, especially in Zagreb.

If you've gone to literally any major Croatian website today, you probably saw numerous image galleries of damage that happened in Zagreb since Sunday afternoon when the worst of the winds started. This morning all emergency services asked the citizens of Zagreb not to go out into the storm unless they had to (of course, it's a normal workday, so people had to go to work, which lead to the mass extintion of umbrellas in Zagreb), and Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić said that this was the worst wind-storm in Zagreb in the past 45 years. A similar event happened on November 11th, 2013, strong winds were also responsible for a lot of damage in Zagreb and on the Medvjednica hill, but the strong winds probably lasted for a shorter period of time.

Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological service published the table of the strongest winds recorded in Croatia this morning (wind speeds in km/h):

In addition to strong winds, a lot of rain was also forecast for parts of Croatia as a part of this storm, and a lot of rain has already fallen in certain areas of Croatia. Central, mountinous part of Croatia and parts of coastal Croatia received the most of the rain, but in the next 12 hours it is expected that the rainfall will increase in the rest of the country too. So, today the Meteorological service is warning that some flooding in Croatia can be expected once the rains hit in earnest.

The Spring Storm 2019 is the result of two separate weather masses hitting each other right above Croatia: a high-pressure cold air arriving from the North (which has already brought cold weather to most of Northern Europe) collided with the low-pressure cyclone centered around Southern Italy. The difference in the temperatures and the pressures created the winds, and the moisture which will be turned into rain is arriving from the South.

The weather in Dalmatia has been wreaking havoc, and while things have calmed down significantly now, for many boats and indeed permanent structures, the damage has already been done. The Zadar waterfront (riva) is just one casualty which needs quick action.

As eZadar writes on the 31st of October, 2018, a model for the repair and reconstruction of parts of the now damaged Zadar waterfront is being searched for by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure.

In order to determine the real extent of the damage caused by Dalmatia's recent bout of extremely wild weather and to go forward with a proper plan for the repair of the Zadar waterfront, Josip Bilaver, assistant to Oleg Butković, the Minister of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, arrived in the popular Dalmatian city of Zadar and together with the heads of departments of the City of Zadar, he visited the damaged waterfront and the jetty area which suffered the greatest extent of Mother Nature's damage.

After an expert analysis of the damage to the structure, a concrete plan for its repair and reconstruction involving the City of Zadar, the wider Zadar County, and the aforementioned Ministry will be drawn up and implemented as soon as possible.

As the Zadar waterfront now unfortunately requires complete reconstruction, which is an extremely demanding task and a great financial burden that the city really didn't need, Assistant Minister Bilaver has put forward the idea of financing the complete reconstruction through a joint project of the City, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, and the Ministry of Regional Development and European Union funds, by applying for help from the cohesion funds. In this way, it would be possible to find the means for the complete repair and reconstruction of the Zadar waterfront, which would be carried out in several phases so as to limit any potential issues.

Want to keep up with news from across the country, be it about business, current events, sport or yet more wild weather? Make sure to stay up to date with our news page.

The Pearl of the Adriatic is taking a battering from the elements.

“Južina?” my boss asked me when my productivity level was low. He was referring to the southeastern jugo wind (scirocco) that is known to make Dalmatians grumpy, slow and depressed. My boss forgave me because of a particular wind blowing past my window!

Jugo wind is a strong southeastern wind that blows onto the Adriatic shores from the Sahara desert of Africa. The Jugo is a low pressure, warm wind, not as strong as the villainous Bura, but causes high and choppy waves with cloudy showering skies.

I cannot tell you the scientific background for this wind mood manipulation phenomenon but supposedly it’s to do with an imbalance of ions in the air causing low pressure in our brains. Nonetheless, jugo is blamed for everything; from low productivity, headaches, mental breakdowns, and a broken leg.

If you are having a bad day, a local will justify it with, “To ti je jugo” (It’s the jugo wind) or you will hear elderly complain about back pain and blaming the jugo wind for it.

In the old Republic of Dubrovnik, no laws were passed while jugo was blowing as it was believed to tamper in ones judgment. Additionally, criminals at this time have been pardoned for even murder if they committed their crime during jugo. Sadly, but true in some institutions, mentally impaired patients are tied up during jugo to protect themselves and others should they have a meltdown.

If you find yourself and others in an oddly depressed mood, then “the answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.”