Renewables

Regulatory deadlock keeps renewables investors in Croatia on seven-year hold

Croatian Chamber of Commerce regulatory framework deadlock renewables investors seven years

Photo: Croatian Chamber of Commerce

Published

February 8, 2023

Country

Comments

comments icon

0

Share

Published:

February 8, 2023

Country:

Comments:

comments icon

0

Share

The Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) has warned that investors in renewable energy have been waiting seven years for a regulatory framework to install wind farms and solar parks. The new laws since 2021 haven’t changed a thing because bylaws are missing and new investments were halted, it pointed out.

Croatia adopted the Law on the Electricity Market and the Law on Renewable Energy Sources and High-Efficiency Cogeneration in 2021. The new framework envisages the issuance the energy approval. Under interim provisions, the government invited developers to submit projects and received 216 applications, but investors have been complaining the process is too slow.

According to HGK’s Association of Renewable Energy Sources, all the deadlines for the adoption of bylaws for the two laws have expired.

All deadlines for the adoption of bylaws have been missed

The rules on connection to the transmission network and the rules on connection to the distribution network have been drafted. But for several months the documents have been sitting in the Croatian Energy Regulatory Agency (HERA) and the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development to be given a green light.

The decree on the public calls for energy approvals, a key document for developing a project, is more than a year late, the association said.

Also, the price of grid connection hasn’t been determined even though the deadline expired five months ago. The investors also await the changes in the regulation on encouraging the production of electricity from renewable energy sources and high-efficiency cogeneration.

Čović: It is not possible to develop projects even on private land

The adoption of the new Law on the Electricity Market has completely stopped investments, even on private land, and it will be like that until the bylaws are adopted, the association’s President Ivo Čović said.

He stressed time was wasted during the energy crisis, arguing that energy independence should be at the top of the priority list.

Instead of importing expensive electricity, Croatia could export it, thanks to the great potential of renewables, Čović added.

Instead of investments in new power plants, the country spent EUR 600 million on imports

The representatives of the association noted that in the first eight months of 2022, Croatia paid EUR 592 million for electricity imports.

The money could have been used to install 600 MW in renewable power plants, however the country currently has only 140 MW in solar power plants.

Instead of investing them in photovoltaic facilities and producing domestic electricity, the funds were lost, said Ivan Strunje, a member of the council of the association.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

Serbia drafts just transition action plan public debate

Serbia drafts just transition action plan

30 May 2025 - The Ministry of Mining and Energy has published a draft just transition action plan and launched a public debate

Regional Power Sector Exchange Western Balkans disitribution system operator dso grids ohrid giz

Third Regional Power Sector Exchange in Ohrid: Power grids at core of energy transition

30 May 2025 - The third Regional Power Sector Exchange of the Western Balkans gathered over 80 energy professionals from the Western Balkans

two solar power plants egesa enerji vojvodina

Turkish Egesa Enerji to build two solar power plants in Serbia’s Vojvodina province

30 May 2025 - Turkish company Egesa Enerji has launched a project to build two solar power plants in Vojvodina, with a total nominal capacity of 8.6 MW

Green for Growth Fund partnership Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Sida

Green for Growth Fund launches partnership with Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

30 May 2025 - GGF and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency are expanding green lending in the Western Balkans and the EU's Eastern Neighborhood