Croatia to launch new round of auctions for premiums in October

The Croatian Energy Market Operator (HROTE) has announced a new round of auctions for awarding premiums for renewable energy and high-efficiency cogeneration projects for October.

HROTE has invited investors to fill out questionnaires to help it improve auction rules and conditions.

Auctions for awarding premiums were introduced in Croatia in mid-2020. The first one, for small units, was held in early 2021, and the second one, for utility-scale projects, was conducted a year ago. However, the response was poor.

The regulator now said it prepared short questionnaires for potential bidders, in line with its plans to launch a public call for granting premiums for investments in renewables and high-efficiency cogeneration.

Investors’ answers could help HROTE determine the quota and the level of premiums

HROTE will use the data to examine investors’ interest in developing projects for wind, solar, hydropower, biomass, and biogas, the maturity of current projects, and other important details to create rules and conditions that correspond to the current market situation and the needs of investors

The information will be used for determining quotas for each technology and the prices of electricity that would be produced by bidders that win at the auctions planned for October, HROTE said.

A separate questionnaire needs to be filled out for each planned project.

The survey includes questions on the planned income and production, investment and financing conditions, as well as production and maintenance costs. For biogas and biomass, it is also necessary to answer questions on the raw materials needed for the operation of the future power plant.