8 Years Since the Paris Agreement – Croatia Still Trails Europe in Solar Energy Usage

Today marks the 8th anniversary of the Paris Agreement on climate change, a historic document aiming to limit global warming to “well below” 2°C. This goal is crucial for ensuring food security and strengthening countries’ capacity to cope with climate change impacts. Achieving these ambitious goals is possible only through accelerated development and implementation of green technologies.

For Croatia and the European Union, Article 18 of the Paris Agreement is particularly important, stipulating that each member of a regional economic integration organization is accountable for its emissions level. This means that countries failing to meet their national emissions reduction plans can face penalties from the European Commission. This further emphasizes the need for investments in renewable energy sources and the promotion of innovations in green technologies to achieve long-term decarbonization and sustainability goals.

On the same day the Paris Agreement came into effect in 2016, a platform was launched to promote domestic energy production from renewable sources – Renewable Energy Sources of Croatia (RESC). Since then, RESC has served as a unified voice for solar, wind, biomass, biogas, geothermal energy, and energy storage technologies like batteries and hydrogen. While we have overcome many challenges since its inception, many still lie ahead.

Croatia, a country with significant natural potential for renewable energy, particularly solar, still lags in a European context. Currently, we have half as much installed solar capacity as Slovenia, ten times less than Hungary, and as much as 130 times less than Germany, despite our country having 30% higher solar irradiance than those mentioned.

New Partnership with SolarPower Europe

In light of these challenges, RESC has signed a strategic partnership agreement with SolarPower Europe, Europe’s leading solar energy organization. This unique regional partnership brings fresh momentum to developing the solar industry in Croatia and addressing key issues. As a long-standing member of SolarPower Europe, RESC is deepening this collaboration to build a solid foundation for solar energy development and contribute to the energy advancement of not only Croatia but the entire region. One activity will be the joint regional conference Solar Flex 2025, scheduled for March next year in Zagreb, aimed at increasing ambitions and fully realizing solar energy’s potential.

Maja Pokrovac, RESC Managing Director: “While our country relies on energy imports, we advocate for the best domestic energy mix that includes all renewable resources as it is done across Europe. Today, after 8 years of operation, RESC has become the central place for proposing sustainable solutions in renewable energy, fostering constructive discussions, and expert analyses and providing information not only in Croatia but beyond. I am particularly pleased to note that our efforts have been recognized by SolarPower Europe, whose support further strengthens our activities. This partnership marks a significant step forward in our shared mission to help Croatia and the region harness their solar potential. I am confident that we will bring positive changes to the renewable energy sector together.”

Walburga Hemetsberger, SolarPower Europe Director: “As Croatia nears the milestone of 1 GW of installed solar capacity, we are thrilled with our deepened partnership with RESC. Our new event, Solar Flex 2025, will create a key platform to discuss accelerating solar energy development in Croatia and beyond. We look forward to crafting an excellent program based on best practices from across Europe and addressing one of today’s key challenges—energy system flexibility with the help of modern storage technologies. Croatia has enormous solar potential, and together, we can continue to unlock it!”

Solar trends and challenges

Croatia is expected to join the club of countries with 1 GW of installed solar energy at the beginning of next year. Despite this positive trend, we still import a significant amount of electricity, requiring accelerated efforts to increase the share of solar energy. Projects totaling 2 GW are blocked due to high connection costs to the grid, a serious obstacle that needs urgent resolution. Plans for modernizing the grid to accommodate renewable energy must be more ambitious and include contemporary forms of energy storage to ultimately reduce energy costs for citizens, small and medium-sized businesses, and energy-intensive industries.

Renewable energy sources should be prioritized for grid connection, and the state needs to ensure incentives for building energy storage facilities and developing new technical solutions to resolve local grid congestion issues.

RESC’s partnership with SolarPower Europe will focus on addressing these challenges based on EU best practices to achieve the Paris Agreement goals and ensure a clean, green future for all.

About SolarPower Europe

SolarPower Europe is a leading European organization connecting decision-makers and the solar photovoltaic value chain. Its mission is to ensure solar energy becomes Europe’s leading energy source by 2030, bringing together over 320 organizations across the sector. Headquartered in Brussels, SolarPower Europe works on shaping regulations and business environments for solar energy growth. As co-founders of the RE-Source Platform and the European Solar Initiative, they actively participate in EU and international projects, developing partnerships with more than 40 global organizations. SolarPower Europe also provides market analysis through reports like the Global Market Outlook for Solar Power and the EU Solar Jobs Report, and events like the SolarPower Summit bring together key stakeholders for networking and business opportunities. SolarPower Europe supports the European Green Deal’s goals of climate neutrality and works to achieve a 100% renewable energy system by 2040, with a focus on solar energy.

About RESC

Renewable Energy Sources Croatia (RESC) unites energy companies and professionals from the renewable energy sector, acting as a strategic think tank for green energy development in Croatia. The primary goal of RESC is to position domestic production from renewable sources as a strategic and sustainable economic sector and foster societal consensus that Croatia’s future lies in renewable and domestic resources. RESC actively supports innovative business models promoting synergy between energy-intensive industries, small and medium-sized enterprises, and citizens. Our focus is on solutions like on-site production, agrivoltaic and aquavoltaic plants that combine food and energy production, producer communities, production aggregation, closed distribution systems, virtual power plants, energy-industrial zones, and energy storage to ensure lower energy costs.