HR

Wind power plants in the Croatian electricity system

26.03.2007.
A press conference on the topic «Wind power plants in the Croatian electricity system» was held at HEP’s headquarters on March 26.

Speeches were delivered by Željko Tomšić, Assistant Minister of Economy, Labor and Entrepreneurship, Miroslav Mesić, Director of HEP OPS, and Tomo Galić, President of CERA's Steering Committee. On March 22, the Croatian Government adopted three pieces of secondary legislation in the area of renewable energy sources: Regulation on minimal share of electricity produced from renewable energy sources and cogeneration which is incentivized, Regulation on charges for incentivizing electricity production from RES and cogeneration, and Tariff system for electricity production from RES and cogeneration. Ž. Tomšić pointed out in his opening address that the government had taken the obligation towards producers and investors of ensuring purchase of the energy so produced over the next 12 years, with incentives for the entire industry, so that Croatia can meet the EU criteria of 20 percent of RES-produced electricity by 2020. The current investor interest in wind power plants exceeds 1 555 MW of installed capacity, but HEP ODS, which is responsible for the security of the Croatian electricity system, has decided 360 MW should be the maximum capacity and the Government has accepted it. A study has been therefore prepared by the Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar entitled “Possibilities of acceptance and technical requirements for wind power plants” which shows that the Croatian electricity system can accept a maximum installed capacity of 300-400 MW while maintaining the operational security of the system. CERA President T. Galić expressed his satisfaction with the adopted legal framework and expects hard pressure from interested parties because of the considerable disproportion between investor desires and HEP OPS possibilities. Concerning customers, the charge of 0.89 lp/kWh that has been set to incentivize RES-produced electricity will increase household monthly bills by about 3 kuna.