The Government of Croatia has prepared EUR 60 million in subsidies for businesses to install renewable power plants and batteries. Subsidies for energy storage facilities linked with new production capacities are increasingly becoming a standard in European countries. The latest example comes from Croatia.
The Croatian government has allocated €60 million ($65.6 million) in subsidies for businesses to install 80 MW of renewables and 20 MWh of batteries. Croatia may only install 2.5 MW of PV in 2022.
“There is immense scope for energy storage in Croatia, predominantly for battery storage.” GlobalData says that Croatia is now on target to meet its 36.4% renewable energy target by 2030. However, its recent investment in energy storage has not been accompanied by rapid solar PV development.
Croatia is preparing to build Eastern Europe’s largest energy storage project. IE Energy has secured €19.8 million ($20.9 million) to develop a 50 MW storage system, potentially extendable to 110 MW by 2024.
The European Commission has approved €19.8 million (US$20.1 million) in state aid from the government of Croatia to energy storage operator IE-Energy for a series of grid-connected projects. The aid will be a direct grant to IE-Energy and will cover approximately 30% of capital expenditures for a series of grid-scale battery energy storage systems.
The Croatian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development said the goal is for companies to produce energy for self-consumption, which should bring down energy costs. Companies can secure between €100,000 and €2 million per project. Developers can apply for multiple projects, with the maximum amount per single applicant capped at €4 million.