European Commission has approved the Croatian support scheme for energy-intensive companies worth 104 million euros

The European Commission (EC) has approved the Croatian support scheme for energy-intensive companies worth 104 million euros aimed at reducing additional fees for their electricity consumption.

The goal of the program is to mitigate the risk that energy-intensive companies move their activities to locations outside the EU with less ambitious climate policies because of increased electricity costs. In addition, the program contributes to the achievement of the EU’s climate and environmental goals set out in the European Green Plan.

The support scheme will be valid until 31 December 2028 and will be open to companies operating in the sectors that are considered as large consumers of electricity and are exposed to international trade.

Program users will be required to consume at least 500 MWh of electricity per year. The reduction of the fee for renewable sources within the program will amount to a maximum of 75 % and will depend on the user’s consumption – the higher the consumption of electricity, the greater the reduction. After applying the reduction, fee must not be lower than 0.5 euros/MWh.

In addition, users will have to conduct an energy audit and make certain investments in energy efficiency, invest in projects that lead to a significant reduction of their greenhouse gas emissions, or cover at least 60 % of their consumption with electricity from renewable sources.