Electricity system operators are significant barrier for citizen energy in Croatia

Electricity system operators – primarily distribution system operator HEP-ODS – aren’t ready to support households and companies in their efforts to produce energy for self-consumption in Croatia, according to a policy paper by the Croatian Energy Regulatory Agency.

The Croatian Energy Regulatory Agency (HERA) has begun preparations to establish an incentives framework for promoting and facilitating the development of self-consumption from renewable energy sources in Croatia.

A document on an incentives framework for prosumers is one of the initial steps in establishing the scheme, HERA said.

It is an analysis that primarily focuses on assessing the existing barriers to energy production from renewable sources for self-consumption.

The first barrier is a lack of energy literacy or insufficient energy literacy

Three barriers were identified. These are the most important not only in Croatia but also in other European Union countries, the paper reads.

The first is the lack of and insufficient energy literacy at all levels, primarily a lack of awareness and understanding of the citizen energy model based on objective and comprehensive information.

A lack of or an insufficiently clear legal, regulatory, and/or administrative framework is the second issue. The third obstacle comprises legal challenges, such as required contractual relationships, the (in)existence of licensing and registration obligations.

In Croatia, a significant obstacle is the insufficient and incomplete readiness of system operators, especially the distribution system operator (DSO) HEP-ODS, to provide support for all forms of citizen energy, and the active participation of citizens in the electricity market.

No support for energy sharing

HEP-ODS is a subsidiary of Croatia’s state-owned power utility Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (HEP). The TSO is called HOPS.

HERA said the pace of changes and upgrades to their information system is inadequate, especially regarding support for energy sharing.

The pace of installing advanced meters for residential consumers, along with the infrastructure for remote reading of their consumption, is still insufficient, the document reads.

Energy sharing is the essence of energy communities.

The analysis grouped the identified obstacles and difficulties into several categories: social, institutional, legal and regulatory, administrative, technical, and economic and financial. The document is currently under public consultation.