November the 15th, 2022 - The Croatian startup Green Energy Pal has taken the energy crisis into its own hands and developed something that will help individuals and companies alike to keep the numbers on their electricity bills down.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Josipa Ban writes, reducing energy costs due to the ongoing energy crisis is a priority for both households and companies. However, it is almost impossible to achieve savings, or energy efficiency, without undertaking any proper analysis of your consumption.

Ivan Pavic, one of the members of the Croatian startup Green Energy Pal, explains that although energy efficiency is talked about a lot, most people don't know how they can increase theirs properly and concretely.

"The reason lies in the fact that they don't have the basic prerequisite solved, that is, they don't know when they spend the most, how much that is and which devices cause that consumption. If we don't know that, how can we plan the actions that will have the most effect, and with the least investment, and then result in the reduction of consumption, and thus the electricity bill?'' asks Pavic.

Guided by this problem, four colleagues from FER, Ivan Pavic, Domagoj Badanjak, Alen Hrga and Ivan Sudic - developed Enpulse. It is, as Pavic explained, a private energy consultant which explains to users in a simple way how to achieve greater energy efficiency and how to reduce their electricity bills.

The reality that their idea and product on which they worked for 18 months to develop has great potential has also been shown by the fact that they were declared the best in the competition of startups from four countries of the region at the BASF Adriatic competition. With this, they entered the grand final of the BASF Innovation Hub 2022 as one of the six best solutions in the field of sustainable development in all of Central and Eastern Europe. This recognition, as expected, means a lot to them, and for several reasons.

"First of all, the expert jury, with excellent comments and questions, drew our attention to the segments of the product and its presentation on which we need to work further. Second, we gained recognition, which contributes to better marketing and the better acquisition of new customers, and in the end, the monetary award we received is very useful for us,'' stated Pavic, a member of the team at the Croatian startup Green Energy Pal.

However, there is still a lot of work ahead of the team who are developing their private energy consultant which is composed of three parts (an electricity metre on location, a backend system that stores data, and the user interface) in their spare time. Pavic explained that they have set themselves three goals - increasing the number of users, expanding the features of Enpulse and attracting investments.

"The increase in the number of users brings us financial support and enables us to develop new product features. Namely, a good part of our background tools are based on big data analysis and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, which also require a large amount of data. In other words, without new users and data, we can't even develop any new features," noted Pavic.

In addition to all of the above, for further growth and development, they will need a financial injection, so their plan is to find an investor. "We need an investment so that we can fully devote ourselves to product development and employ experts from various fields of IT, AI development, energy, sales and marketing," they announced from the Croatian startup Green Energy Pal.

The reactions to the product so far, which has only been on the market for a few months, are very positive. "The current users from the household category are very satisfied with the product," said Pavic, adding that, although their target group of users is both companies and households, they still give preference to companies.

"SMEs have significant energy costs, often accounting for 10 to 30 percent of their total costs. However, these costs aren't so high as to require extensive analyses by energy experts and consultants. This is precisely why we're developing a ''digital energy consultant'' which can give people advice on increasing energy efficiency at a very low cost. Our idea is that the investment in hardware companies pays off within one or several months, and that the monthly software subscription is only a small part of the savings achieved with our product,'' noted Pavic, adding that the use of their product in households is still less profitable than it is in companies.

It's worth mentioning that this is one of the very few startups that is actually benefiting from the energy crisis, although they didn't count on such a development when they started developing their product.

"Now we have more open potential collaborations with different companies. We assume that the demand for our product will grow significantly,'' concluded Pavic.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

October the 22nd, 2022 - One Croatian cafe in the City of Zagreb has decided to start charging customers extra to sit by their outdoor heaters on the terrace, citing inflation and energy costs as the reason behind the unusual move.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, one Croatian cafe in Zagreb wants extra if you plan to be sitting and drinking your (probably) coffee outside on the terrace under the outdoor heaters. Coffee by the outdoor heater will cost you 14 kuna, and it will come at a cost of 12 kuna if you don't need warming up as well. In short, every guest in this particular Croatian cafe who wants to sit on the terrace under the outdoor heater must pay an additional two kuna for heating in addition to whatever their bill is for their order.

"I think that heaters are a luxury outside, in winter. We have enough interior space, if someone really wants to be outside in the fresh air, we'll turn the heaters on, but we simply have to pass that part of the cost on to the end user," said Ivan Oreskovic, the owner of this particular cafe. Oreskovic eventually decided on this move because of higher electricity bills, which grew by 200 percent and are now around three times higher than they were before. One kilowatt came at a cost of 55 lipa last year, it costs one kuna and 65 lipa this year.

"People sit outside for 30 minutes on average, so far we've borne that cost. Each heater consumes approximately 2 kilowatts per hour, that would be 2 times 1.6 which is 3.2 kuna - we used to pay one kuna for it. We passed the difference on to the customers, and we keep the main part of the cost to ourselves", explained the owner.

This is the only cafe in the entire country that includes a heater on its price list, at least so far, and people are divided about the idea. Some are ready to pay two kuna extra if they are satisfied with the service and the cafe, but others think that it isn't fair. As things stand, this kind of recipe for cost reduction and survival will be applied by many business owners working in the catering and hospitality sector, writes RTL.

"As for the amounts themselves - whether it's 2, 5 or maybe even 50 kuna, it definitely depends on the decision of the company owner who is responsible for the organisation of the business. I'm equally sure that business owners are definitely also taking into account the amounts that people can actually afford to pay,'' pointed out Ivan Tadic, secretary of the Association of Caters in Zagreb.

While this Croatian cafe has chosen this somewhat controversial model and others will likely follow, for most, charging extra for heating is the last thing on their minds.

For more, make sure to keep up with our dedicated news section.

ZAGREB, 20 July 2022 - Deputy whip of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Siniša Hajdaš Dončić said on Wednesday that SDP had submitted a motion to the Sabor for the establishment of a national council for energy and energy transition in order to activate renewables and help citizens in the energy crisis.

energy That proposal, said Hajdaš Dončić, is a hand to the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and all other parties because infrastructure and energy have no party connotations. "It is a Croatian public good and a Coatian national interest," he told a press conference, stressing that a national consensus is needed on the issue of energy.

He explained that due to the growing energy crisis and deviations in supply routes, "but also the timid implementation of some energy policies," SDP has proposed the establishment of a national council which, in addition to Members of Parliament, would include experts and scientists, and which would not be guided by narrow party interests because, he said, we believe that energy is above all political parties.

Hajdaš Dončić said that Croatia has a good energy infrastructure and the possibility of its expansion, but unfortunately, the INA oil company and the HEP power utility, did not expand into energy companies that would provide citizens and entrepreneurs with a much larger protection against inflation and the rapid energy price hikes.

Although the government and the president have their own councils for energy, it is important that the Sabor has one, too, without any party affiliation because many experts who could make a quality contribution shy away from being linked to a party, said Hajdaš Dončić.

SDP calls for a tax reduction on solar systems and energy savings

His party colleague and former environmental minister Mihael Zmajlović said that the intention is not to establish yet another commission or committee for its own sake but to highlight that energy management is a first-class economic and social issue because citizens are feeling the impact of energy price hikes and consequently increased food prices.

Our goal is to encourage the government to set frameworks so that renewable energy sources and natural resources are used as much as possible. Today Croatia is lagging behind in terms of the use of solar energy in Europe, ranking 24th, warned Zmajlović.

SDP has called for incentive systems to be easier, faster and more efficient, and for a VAT reduction for solar systems, Zmajlović said and added that the European Commission has also requested the strengthening of renewable energy sources and provided funds for this. However, he said, the government has not yet responded, even though this would significantly reduce the cost of living for citizens.

According to the proposal, the council chairman would be from the ranks of the opposition, the deputy chair from the ruling majority, following the example of the Anti-Corruption Council, and their term would last as long as the Sabor sits.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 13 July 2022 - MP Ivana Kekin of the Green-Left Bloc said on Wednesday the heating season was three months away, yet the government was not taking any action.

She said in parliament that while all of Europe was talking about energy supply in the coming autumn and winter, the Croatian government was avoiding the topic.

At the beginning of the year, the EU decided that all gas storage facilities must be 80% full by 1 November, while Croatia has only one storage which is barely 20% full now, less than at the same time last year, Kekin said, adding that the government has no clue where it will procure gas.

She also accused the government of pursuing a policy that favored Russian interests by awarding the job of leasing additional gas capacity to the PPD company.

MP Anka Mrak Taritaš (GLAS) criticized the prime minister for not giving recommendations on energy saving.

Our behavior will have to change for the sake of energy saving, not just because of Russia but also because of environmental protection and energy transition, she said, calling for taking action now.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 12 May 2022 - Croatia has so far taken in 18,000 Ukrainian refugees and the problem with the current energy crisis caused by the Russian aggression is that it is not known how long it will last, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday addressing a conference of young European leaders.

"The problem with this crisis is that nobody knows how long it will last and instruments of control of energy product prices are weak," the PM said in his address at the European Young Leaders (EYL40) conference, speaking about the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"In fact, we do not have global mechanisms to control prices of energy products," he said, stressing that a common European solution to the crisis was necessary.

Unlike the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected only a fragment of the population, elderly and at-risk groups, the energy crisis is affecting everyone because "99% of human activities" are connected to energy products, he said.

The Zagreb conference was attended by some 40 successful individuals from all around Europe - parliament members, business people, astrophysicists, athletes and artists, among others, including Sarajevo Mayor Benjamina Karić.

Speaking of the Russian aggression, Plenković said few people had expected it to happen and that it was interesting that intelligence data from Western allies had proven "completely precise."

The Russian attack has caused a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, with close to six million having left the country and 13 million having been internally displaced, and, together with the energy crisis, it has caused wider political instability, Plenković said.

"We do not know if the aggression on Ukraine will be the only or the last aggression," he warned, mentioning in that context developments so far in the east of Europe, notably Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Belarus.

He said that Zagreb's official position is one of full solidarity with Ukraine and that so far 18,000 Ukrainians had arrived in Croatia.  

For more, check out our politics section.