Croatia launches public calls for 250 MW in solar, wind projects

The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development has launched public calls for issuing energy approvals for the construction of 14 solar power plants and one wind farm, with a total capacity of about 250 MW.

Croatia introduced the energy approval under the Law on the Electricity Market in October 2021 with the aim to select serious projects among all that obtained any official documentation. It was rolled out as one of the first conditions an investor must fulfill for building a solar power plant or wind farm. At the time, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development invited developers to submit projects by January 19, 2022, to receive energy approval. It received 216 applications.

The ministry assesses a requests before launching a public call or rejecting it. Investors have been complaining the process is too slow and that a small number of calls have been issued.

The current public call is for solar power plants Dubrava kod Tisna, Izlazak 1, Izlazak 2, Katuni, Nova 1, Nova 2, Primorski Dolac, Seget, Sukošan, Sutina, Velim, Voštane, Vršak and Žeževica, according to the announcement.

The largest solar power plant is envisaged with a capacity of 45 MW

The combined capacity is, according to the local media, about 180 MW. The Sutina photovoltaic facility is the largest one, with 45 MW. There is only one wind project, with a capacity of 72 MW. It is called Bradarića kosa.

The public calls for energy approval refer to particular sites with projects for which investors submitted applications to the ministry.

An investor that gets an energy approval must pay the government EUR 6.6 per kW of planned capacity. For a 100 MW facility it is HRK 5 million or almost EUR 700,000. The energy approval becomes valid if the investor pays the money within 15 days after it won it project through the public call.

Milatić: All applications will be processed within two months

Ivo Milatić, State Secretary for Energy at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, said that the energy approval was introduced to bring order into the sector, and claimed that 216 applications would be processed in two months. He estimated that out of the 6,000 MW in applications, 4,000 MW are projects that cannot be implemented.

The ministry’s employees must check all the details in the land registers and confirm with the Spatial Planning Institute whether a project is compliant with official planning documents, Milatić stressed, pointing to high costs for approvals.

Last year, in his words, energy approvals were issued for 700 MW, and this year for an overall 125 MW so far. The plan is to have new facilities with an installed capacity of 1,400 MW in total by 2024, he said, Jutarnji list reported.