March 7, 2023 - A solar power plant will soon be installed on the roof of the Zadar Polyclinic, which will help the Zadar General Hospital reduce electricity costs and turn to renewable sources, it was announced on Monday in Zadar at the presentation of the project "Zadar General Hospital Solar Power Plant."

As 24Sata (HINA) reports, the director of the Zadar General Hospital, Zeljko Culina, pointed out that investing in renewable energy sources is the most important way to save energy and stop dependence on fossil fuels.

"With the project to build a solar power plant on the roof of the Polyclinic, we will ensure a reduction of electricity costs by more than 18 percent, and the saved funds will be invested in modernisation and human capacities. We are ready for innovative moves that ensure sustainable business to serve as an example and incentive for other institutions," Culina added.

The total area of the power plant will be 1,111 square meters, with an output power of 220 kW and an installed capacity of 0.23 MW, producing 279,063 kWh of electricity per year.

The construction of a solar power plant on the roof of the Zadar Polyclinic will contribute to safe supply and environmental protection by reducing CO2 emissions by 65.3 tons per year.

Lovre Karamarko from the Directorate for European Territorial Cooperation of the Ministry of Regional Development and Funds of the European Union said that by applying for the project, the Zadar General Hospital fulfilled many conditions of energy independence, thus proving itself as an active participant in society.

"This project is not only big on a financial level. Through rational conduction of business, we improved the system, treatments, and patient care," concluded the state secretary of the Ministry of Health, Silvio Basic, at the end of the conference.

The construction of the solar power plant also contributes to the goal of the "Energy and Climate Change" program by greater use of technologies with lower carbon emissions and a more secure energy supply in the Republic of Croatia.

The project is financed through the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEA) 2014-2021 with co-financing from the Republic of Croatia as part of the "Energy and Climate Change" program.

The investment is worth EUR 261,352.88, of which EUR 222,149.95 is non-refundable. The project should last until November 15, 2023. The collection of the necessary documentation will be completed by the end of March, followed by the installation of the solar panels.

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March 7th, 2022 - An overview of the Croatian Energy Sector 2021. 

The energy sector is a hot topic these days, and it is not a coincidence since rising prices of electricity, natural gas, and crude oil determine the prices in the overall economy. Energy prices determine the production costs, transportation costs, electricity costs, heating costs among many others. There is a rising concern over the ecological impact of the energy sector as well as the geopolitical impact that has never been more relevant. 

Taking into consideration the aforementioned effects, I will shortly go through the energy statistics for 2021 reported by DZS which will give a short description of the Croatian energy sector as it was in 2021. 

ELECTRICITY

In 2021, Croatia had total net production of electricity at 14 686 GWh, which is an increase of 14% compared to 2020. Exports and imports amounted to 7505 and 11 342 GWh which leads to 18 359 GWh of electricity available for the inland market. Exports recorded the highest growth with a 28% increase compared to 2020. It should be noted that the imports also include electricity produced by the nuclear power plant Krško in Slovenia of which HEP (Croatian state-owned electricity group) holds 50%.

In 2021, 48.8% of the electricity produced in Croatia came from hydropower, 29.6% from thermal power plants and CHP on fossil fuels, 14% from wind power, and 6.5% from thermal power plants and CHP on renewable fuels. Solar power plants and geothermal power plants accounted for only 1%. Around 70% of Croatia's total net production comes from renewable resources.

NATURAL GAS

In 2021, production of natural gas in Croatia amounted to 780 mln m3, which is a decrease of 12% compared to 2020. Imports amounted to 2240 mln m3 with an increase of 4%, while exports reached 76 mln m3. From natural gas that is available for the inland market, 76.5% comes from imports. Croatia is clearly a natural gas net importer with an export-to-import ratio of 0.03.  

CRUDE OIL

In 2021, the production of crude oil in Croatia reached 558 thousand tonnes, a decrease of 4.6% compared to 2020. Imports were at 1767 and exports at 490 thousand tonnes. Both imports and exports were experiencing a year-on-year decrease with 9.2% and 22.5% each, respectively. Refinery input in 2021 was 1849 thousand tonnes which were also lower by 5.8%. Again, as with natural gas, Croatia is a crude oil net importer with an export-to-import ratio of 0.27. 

PETROLEUM PRODUCTS

In 2021, 2461 thousand tonnes of petroleum products were produced in Croatia which is a decrease of 4.9% compared to 2020. Gas/Diesel oil had the biggest share with 45%, followed by motor gasoline with 24%.

All observed categories of petroleum products experienced a decrease in the level of production, except for fuel oil which saw an increase of 5%. The same holds for imports and exports, all of the categories except fuel oil saw an increase in imports and decrease in exports compared to 2020. 

Looking at the export-import ratio we can see that Croatia is a net exporter in both motor gasoline and fuel oil with ratios of 1.875 and 21.91 in that order. On the other hand, Croatia is a net importer of Gas/Diesel oil and other petroleum products with ratios of 0.49 and 0.59. The category of petroleum products as a whole also has higher imports than exports with a ratio of 0.73. 

CRUDE FUELS

Crude fuels are made of hard coal, coke, and brown coal. Croatia does not produce either of these three subcategories of crude fuels. In 2021 Croatia has imported 669 thousand tonnes of hard coal, 29 thousand tonnes of coke, and 4 thousand tonnes of brown coal. Comparing the import data with 2020, we can observe an increase of both hard coal and coke imports by 13.4% and 3.6% respectively. On the contrary brown coal, imports have decreased by 77.8%.

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