Croatia will encourage exploration of local resources and it can be expected that in the next five years there will be growth in oil and gas exploration and exploitation, said Croatian Minister of Energy and Environment Tomislav Coric.
Minister Coric emphasized that the legislative framework has been significantly changed in order to create an open environment for exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons. In addition, a lot has been done to make Croatia an important place on the supply map of Europe in terms of energy supply, because the commissioning of the LNG terminal on Krk is expected at the end of 2020.
However, Croatia’s energy future lies in renewable energy sources. In the next 10 to 30 years, Croatia will strive for renewable energy. It will try to increase electricity generation from solar, geothermal, biogas, wind and hydro sources. The model on which this will be done will also change, the legislative framework enables a market premium model that is fairer than feed-in tariffs because producers will compete with each other, and on the other hand the state will ensure the security of their investments.
He announced the launch of tenders related to small-scale biomass and biogas projects by the end of the year, and next year the Government will launch tenders for large-scale solar and wind projects. This is also an opportunity for large energy companies to enter Croatian market, but also an opportunity for state-owned HEP to continue along the RES path.
Nevertheless, Croatia will not ignore the transition solutions – namely natural gas, and in that sense it will build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the Krk island. Oil company INA will also go in that direction, as evidenced by the investment in the biorefinery in Sisak, which is all in line with the EU Green Deal.
