First pilot deployment desk meeting in Croatia

Old and modern in symbiosis? Why not!

It is a practice that has been nurtured in Western European countries for years. Croatia abounds in cultural sites. In 2017, the number of cultural heritage objects was as high as 8228, the number of preventively protected cultural heritage objects was 1010, 42 are cultural assets of national importance, seven monuments have been entered on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Croatia's architectural heritage is diverse and rich. Cultural monuments are defined by the constitution of the Republic of Croatia and legislation. Croatian partners, North-West Croatia Regional Energy Agency  and University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing  helped by Croatian Association of Historic Towns and Krapina-Zagorje County kicked-off the Store4HUC project in Croatia. It is a project funded through Interreg Central Europe programmewith the aim to explore the possibilities of integrating renewable energy and energy storages with cultural properties. Reason? Extending the life of the buildings themselves, restoring and / or enhancing the sustainability of cultural objects, and adding new facilities to cultural objects to make them more livable and interesting to general public.

The kick-off and first pilot deployment desk meeting in Croatia was held at the Bračak Energy Center on Monday 16 September 2019, with representatives of the Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning, Croatian Electricity Utility, Zagorje Development Agency, Conservation Department in Krapina, as well as the Croatian Association of Historic Towns and Krapina-Zagorje County  who are associated partners. It is envisioned to hold another three deployment desk meetings in Croatia over three years of project duration. Investment in the Bračak Energy Center is a part of activity related to pilot action implementation and mutual learning activities on the project. The investment consists of three parts: a photovoltaic system up to 10 kWp, up to 10 kWh batteries to store energy, and improvement of the existing building management system. 

Due to conservation rules, photovoltaics are not going to be applied on to the Bračak castle, but on a canopy above the existing parking lot. The last part of the investment is related to the improvement of existing smart building management system by implementation of tool for Energy Management developed by University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing. The tool is intended to optimally size the investment and operate it together with the existing  castle energy systems.     

by Kristina Radoš Cvišić
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing
University of Zagreb