Croatian state-owned energy company Bukotermal has discovered an underground lake with hot water that could provide the north of the country with geothermal electricity, writes TNW.

The company discovered this discovery during two years of research. The lake is located in the Varazhda county . It is located at a depth of 2.4 km, and its average temperature is +142.03 °C.

According to the county’s information, the site meets all the requirements for the construction of a 16 MW geothermal power plant. This energy is enough to supply tens of thousands of homes.

More than €2.5 million has already been invested in the project. However, Bukotermal believes that the total cost of construction of the power plant will be about 50 million euros.

Italy is considered the largest producer of geothermal electricity in the European Union, with a capacity of about 915 MW. It is followed by Germany (38 MW) and Portugal (30 MW).

In Croatia, the installed capacity is much smaller, but the government has stated that hot water pools have the potential to provide one-third of the country with clean electricity if utilized.