Next year we will produce serious megawatt hours of electricity from new renewable energy projects, electricity will be for export

The energy future of Croatia can be bright, but for now it is not. This conclusion could be drawn from the last panel at the Lider conference of the same name, where Ivo Milatić from the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Marija Šćulac Domac from the Croatian Chamber of Economy, Maja Pokrovac from the Renewable Energy Association, Željko Vrban from HERA, and Marijan Cenger from the Croatian Biogas Producers Association gathered. Such strong names in one place guaranteed a heated discussion, and indeed, there was no shortage of heated debate on that panel.

Who is to blame for the fact that Croatia already lacks sufficient energy projects? Each participant had their theory. For Milatić from the Ministry, the only culprit cannot be the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, because, although they are under-resourced, other stakeholders in the system are not working with the dynamics they should. I mean HERA and HOPS, Milatić pointed out. HOPS, he says, has an absurd price, and HERA just accepts it, thus killing investor interest, believes the Ministry representative.

Lack of people

– By the end of July, we should know the connection price for individual projects, as well as clear rules. However, the problem lies with people; there is a lack of people, people are not applying for the jobs for which we announce tenders, salaries are what they are, we can no longer offer more, and some things simply stand still because of that – Milatić explained his “side”. He also spoke about how the connection price should be regulated better and smarter; projects in the south should have a higher price because there are already renewable energy projects there, while in Slavonia, for example, there are too few such projects, so the price there should also be more competitive.

– But the bigger problem is that we do not have enough network to which these projects can connect. How to finance new power line projects? That is a problem we need to address in the future and find a solution – Milatić said, adding that part of these infrastructure projects can be “paid” from network fees, and part from funds.

Vrban from HERA responded to Milatić’s accusations that determining the connection price is not as simple as it seems and that it is a responsible job that needs to “reconcile” all participants, including the state, investors, energy producers, operators, and the market.

What about the market?

– What will we do with the market if we suddenly have sudden and large quantities of unusable energy – Vrban asked, announcing that the connection price will not be known until autumn.

A lot of time has already been lost on bickering and procrastination; too much time has been lost, especially the time when we could have produced, sold, and perhaps even exported the most expensive energy ever. But now it is over, says Šćulac Domac from the Croatian Chamber of Economy, noting that we have been surpassed in the amount of electricity produced from renewable energy by almost all countries, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Greece, the Czech Republic…

– And we have more sun and more wind than they do – Šćulac emphasized.

Embarrassing situation

The situation in which the Croatian energy sector finds itself is embarrassing; the connection prices are taking too long, and the narrative that we are in this situation because “we do not have enough people” is really misguided, believes Maja Pokrovac, who clearly states that we need green energy, and especially we need a greater role for green energy in industry. She cited agrivoltaics as an example, emphasizing that agriculture and renewable energy go hand in hand.

– However, the lack of clear legislative frameworks brings unpredictability for all investors and domestic entrepreneurs – Pokrovac states.

Cenger reflected on the problems faced by biogas producers who have either gone bankrupt or are on the verge of bankruptcy because market conditions are unclear, as some rules change too often.

Milatić responded that we cannot have a 10-year energy policy that does not change under market challenges; such times are behind us, he said.

– Next year, we will talk here at this Lider conference about how many energy approvals have been issued in the past year, and we will have serious megawatt hours that we will produce. We will strengthen resources for HOPS and HERA, start seriously thinking about hydrogen, and we will also install a large number of charging stations for electric vehicles – Milatić concluded.