Currently, more money is being invested in the solar sector than in any other electricity-generating technology. Last year, with 56 GW of solar power installed in Europe, a record was set for the power that the sun provides to our continent.
As Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, emphasized today at the Renewable Energy Days (Dani OIE) held in Pula from June 12 to 14, organized by Renewable Energy Sources of Croatia (OIEH), 30 million new households in Europe can be supplied with electricity solely from the solar panels installed last year.
“There are currently 260 GW of solar power plants installed in Europe, and we expect to reach half a terawatt in the next four years. Considering the target of one terawatt by 2030, there are currently 800,000 people employed in the solar industry,” said Walburga Hemetsberger.
Approximately half of that number works in the wind power industry, said Guy Brindley, Director of Market Analytics at WindEurope. He highlighted that Europe has 272 GW of wind power installed, meeting 20% of Europe’s electricity needs, with wind covering 14% of Croatia’s electricity needs.
“Croatia currently has 1.3 GW of wind power, and with offshore wind power plants, it could reach 22 GW,” said Guy Brindley, highlighting the need for massive investments in the transmission network and faster permit issuance for wind power plant development.
Solar and wind as renewable energy sources were also the focus of two panels held today. Under the theme “Are we on the sunny side of Europe?” experts, moderated by HRT journalist Mladen Sirovica, discussed the current state and future of solar power plants in Croatia.
Goran Fržop, project manager at TEC Renewable Energy, expressed satisfaction that the Croatian Energy Regulatory Agency (HERA) will finally announce the connection fee for the grid.
“That fee was intended to cover grid costs, which are obviously not zero euros, but that doesn’t mean the fee itself can’t be zero. On the contrary, it should be, because key infrastructure should be managed by the state. Energy projects are strategic projects, and as such, they are the result of high-level planning, so the burden of key infrastructure should not fall on investors. Comparing it to building a highway makes it clear,” said Goran Fržop, concluding that Croatia is indeed on the sunny side of Europe, but the state should be the ‘factor 50’ that allows everyone to ‘tan but not burn.’
Mario Turković, Director of EnergoVizija, said that even after HERA “releases the white smoke,” problems could arise in the field of agro-solar power plants, as the Ministry of Agriculture might say that they cannot be installed on P1 land (highly valuable arable agricultural land).
“Solar power plants cannot be placed on P1 and P2 lands unless they are agro-solars. However, this needs to be defined,” said Mario Turković.
Snježana Đurišić, Head of the Sector for Location Permits and Investments in the Directorate for Spatial Planning and State Significance Permits at the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction, and State Property, said that local governments should design agro-solars through spatial plans. She also spoke about the bureaucratic problems that arise when investors receive different interpretations from different institutions for the same issue. She presented areas where solar power plants can be built, while Dr. Goran Slipac, Deputy Director of HEP-ODS, explained that by the end of May, 4500 solar power units with a total capacity of 165 MW had been connected. He noted that his company faces challenges with the non-homogeneity of projects across distribution areas.
Sanja Ivelj, Head of the Energy Markets and Infrastructure, Energy Efficiency, and Renewable Energy Sources Sector in the Directorate for Energy at the Ministry of Economy, said that since 2021, around 5000 MW of energy approvals have been issued, including two for agro-solars and one for a floating power plant.
In the “Win Win(d)” panel, moderated by Marijana Baričević, Director of WPD Windmanager Croatia, experts discussed the long-term development of wind farms, supply chains, and investor challenges with wind energy.
“With development and construction, it takes more than ten years to realize a wind farm project, during which directives often change. For example, when we were building, we obtained all the permits, and just before deciding on construction, we considered whether to replace the initially planned 3-megawatt units with 4-megawatt ones. We decided not to, even though it would have been better for the project because we would have had to go through the permit processes again,” explained Dražen Lovrić, Director of the Korlat Energy Park.
Ivan Liakh, Director of DRI for Croatia, spoke about equipment and transportation costs and supply chain security during wind farm equipment procurement. Maria De Melo, Senior Energy and Infrastructure Policy Specialist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, emphasized the importance of providing stability to investors.
“Governments must be clear in their long-term plans and deadlines, and the legal framework must be well-defined so investors know that regulation exists,” said Maria De Melo.
Mirna Mazija, Director of SUPERNATURAL, emphasized that investors find it increasingly difficult to locate new areas in Croatia with energy potential.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult to find locations for power plants due to protected areas. Future plans for renewable energy are upward, but environmental capacity is downward, and this must be kept in mind. Work is currently underway on a map of areas where renewable energy power plants could be located, which is very important because it will provide a clearer picture of sensitive areas and the direction we all need to go,” said Mirna Mazija.
Dalibor Jovanović, Director of IRENA, spoke about the development of offshore wind power plants, a project his company is working on with Istria County. They need offshore wind power, especially in the summer months, after the closure of Plomin, and want it to be environmentally beneficial.
Transmission line construction will no longer be financed through levies imposed on investors; instead, the state will procure the money. A special lex specialis for key energy infrastructure will define everything Croatia currently needs and for the next ten years. This was announced by State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy, Ivo Milatić, at the “Connection to the Power Grid” panel moderated by Dr. Josip Tošić, Director of TOSKA.
The panelists concluded that Croatia needs another north-south transmission line to connect all future renewable energy power plants to the grid. They noted that this idea is at least ten years old. Tomislav Ćurković, Director of ENCRO, said that the investor currently pays 80% of the infrastructure, which is unfair.
“HOPS has 10-year plans, but it is financed from a grid fee that hasn’t changed for years and from a connection fee determined based on a 2018 methodology, which is inadequate,” said Igor Šumonja, Head of the Network Access Service at the Croatian Transmission System Operator (HOPS), noting that HOPS is considering two “windows” for submitting the elaboration of the optimal technical connection solution to the grid (EOTRP).
From May 1 to 15 each year, investors currently have to submit the elaboration, and if they miss that period, they must wait a year.
This is a major problem, highlighted Iva Širić, Development Manager at DRI, while Ivana Grbeša, Head of Public and EU Policies at E.ON Croatia, said that her company, like others, faces the same challenges regarding grid connection.
Mladen Šicel, Head of the Contracting Department at KOER, spoke about how aggregators provide greater grid stability by reducing capital investments and Jan Kostevc, Team Leader at ACER, and Doroteja Hranjec, Head of the Network User Relations Department at HOPS, presented what investors must go through to enable grid connections.
So far, geothermal investors do not have problems with connections but face other difficulties, as highlighted in the “Geothermal Challenges” panel moderated by Ivan Vrdoljak, journalist at Bloomberg Adria.
Ivana Ivančić, Director of ENNA GEO, said that investments in geothermal energy are the largest among renewable energy sources.
“Investment in one megawatt of solar power is 500,000 euros, while for one megawatt of geothermal energy, it is over six million. Drilling one well costs over 11 million euros,” said Ivana Ivančić, whose company is currently working on three exploitation fields. There is no risk-sharing with the state, emphasized the director of ENNA GEO, but they are not appealing for it, only for the implementation of the legislative framework.
Jadranka Leško, Head of the Department for Oil Mining and Geothermal Water for Energy Purposes in the Directorate for Energy at the Ministry of Economy, said they fully support all investors.
“Geothermal energy is technically and time-consuming, risky, expensive, but it brings great benefits. It is available 24 hours a day and easily allows for future projections. As for the regulations, they will not be more lenient, and the speed of project implementation satisfies most investors, and we are satisfied as well. The only potential progress is in energy approvals and premium models,” said Jadranka Leško.
Ana Lazo, Director of Geothermal and New Energies at INA, emphasized that the biggest difference between geothermal energy and other renewable sources is the large capital investments.
“INA is primarily focused on electricity production from exploration areas for which we have obtained permits, but we are open to collaborating with the local community to use excess thermal energy for pools or heating,” said Ana Lazo.
A local unit that decided to take the initiative is Križevci, whose Deputy Mayor Danijel Šaško explained that their well is from 1985 and was drilled by INA.
“We started research in 2017, aiming to heat a complex of public buildings near the well with geothermal energy, mostly financed by the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area, and the latest research showed a temperature of 80 degrees Celsius at the outlet,” said Danijel Šaško.
Martina Tuschl, Director of the Geothermal Energy Sector at the Hydrocarbons Agency, emphasized that the target of 318 MW from geothermal sources by 2030 is realistic.
“One well can produce up to eight megawatts of electricity. These projections are not pulled out of thin air; they are practically projects in progress,” said Martina Tuschl, while Sara Vukman, Sales Manager at Marsh Specialty, Marsh McLennan Croatia, explained the broker’s role in geothermal exploration.
“Brokers are intermediaries between the energy company or investor and the insurer. Their task is to provide consulting services, present risks, and assist in securing insurance,” said Sara Vukman.
Marijan Krpan, President of the Hydrocarbons Agency, presented the agency’s role in exploration and exploitation fields, their projects, and emphasized Geothermal CCS. This Croatian project for permanent CO2 disposal in geological structures is on the European Commission’s list of projects of common interest (PCI list). The project involves the transport and permanent storage of CO2 from emitters in Croatia and Hungary near the Croatia-Hungary border. The transport system operator will take over CO2 from emitters, mainly cement plants in Hungary and Croatia, and transport it through pipelines to the Bockovac injection plant in Osijek-Baranja County.
On Friday, the last day of the Renewable Energy Days conference, discussions will focus on financing renewable energy projects, placing biomass and biogas in the spotlight, the most efficient forms of thermal and electrical energy storage, and how close we are to the hydrogen era.
An exceptional value of the conference is the possibility of arranging B2B meetings through a special mobile app available to all conference participants.
