Croatia to install 150 chargers for electric buses

Croatia has earmarked EUR 50 million for firms providing public urban and suburban transport services to install chargers for electric buses. The scheme is for at least 150 units.

The Government of Croatia started subsidizing the purchase of electric buses for public urban transport companies in 2020. Now it will support the construction of charging infrastructure. The funds come from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The Ministry of Economy has issued a public call to operators of public urban and suburban transport to encourage them to build infrastructure for the use of zero-emission vehicles such as charging points for electric buses. The aim is to accelerate the energy transition, strengthen sustainable mobility and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in transport.

Small, medium, and large firms as well as companies founded by public institutions are eligible to apply.

A total of 18 firms have expressed interest to obtain EUR 46 million in total for electric chargers

Available grant amounts per company and the minimum number of charging points that it must install are based on the needs that they expressed earlier.

There are 18 such firms. The public call takes into account the highest amount that each of them can receive. The deadline for installation is June 30, 2026.

Their total preliminary needs are around EUR 46 million while the total number of electric chargers they have to set up is 242.

The exact number of electric vehicle charging points that a company can install must be based on the planned number of electric buses it will purchase. Also, each project must include a feasibility study with a cost-benefit analysis and submitted to the ministry.

The deadline for submission is the end of June this year.

Charging points for electric vehicles for public urban and suburban transport won’t include alternative fuels and won’t be available to the public.

They will exclusively be used for charging the vehicles owned by the beneficiaries, regardless of whether the infrastructure is located on private property.

Of note, expected investments in electric vehicle chargers in Croatia amount to EUR 200 million.