A Medulin tourism site is building 5 MWp of solar and a 5 MW / 10 MWh battery on an old clay pit
Valbonasa centar's project is valued at EUR 6.012 million ex-VAT, with about EUR 3.908 million (~65%) from an EU Recovery green-transition loan via HBOR. Panels targeted for September 2026; battery trial into February 2027. Power for own buildings first; surplus to the grid.
Tourism is Croatia's big workplace load with a night problem. Hotels and camps run hard after sunset. Midday solar alone leaves the evening peak on the grid bill.
On 29 May 2026, Glas Istre reported Valbonasa centar starting construction of a solar plant at Valbonasa in Medulin municipality - on a clay pit closed in 1977. Start of works planned 1 June. Project value EUR 6,012,000 excluding VAT. About EUR 3,908,000 (~65%) is an EU Recovery green-transition loan via HBOR. Designer and contractor: Enerco Solar.
What is being built, as published: solar 5 MWp; battery 5 MW / 10 MWh. Solar construction finish targeted September 2026. Trial operation and battery install targeted by February 2027. Company statement via Glas Istre: power will serve their existing and future buildings; the rest goes to the grid. They note most regional plants so far were 1-3 MW without storage.
By our arithmetic, 10 MWh at 5 MW is two hours at full power. That duration is division on this desk - not a figure quoted in the Glas Istre piece.
Analogy: a coastal hotel group planting vines on a ruined quarry, then building a cellar. Day harvest feeds the restaurant. Cellar covers the dinner rush. Breakfast still needs the merchant.
Good: dated euros, megawatts, megawatt-hours, loan share, and schedule from the investor via regional press. Own-buildings-first offtake is a clean buyer story. Brownfield clay-pit reuse is a planning detail other coastal sites can copy.
Bad: battery COD is February 2027 - months after panels. A summer peak season may see solar without the box. No tariff, no modelled bill saving, and no hotel-bed count sit on the page.
Ugly: two hours of storage does not carry a full resort through a Dalmatian evening peak in August. Anyone selling "24-hour solar tourism" off this release is padding.
Source: Glas Istre, 29 May 2026 - U Valbonasi krece izgradnja sest milijuna eura vrijedne solarne elektrane. Numbers restated from that page. 2-hour duration is desk arithmetic (10 / 5), not a quoted figure. No site payback on that page.