Energy in Croatia describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in Croatia.
As of 2021, Croatia imported about 52.9% of the total energy consumed annually: 80% of its oil demand, 67% of its gas, 32.5% of its electricity, and 100% of its coal needs.
Croatia satisfies its electricity needs largely from hydro and thermal power plants, and partly from the Krško nuclear power plant, which is co-owned by Croatian and Slovenian state-owned power companies. Renewable energies account for approximately 28.5% of Croatia's energy mix.
Electricity
Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP) is the national energy company charged with production, transmission and distribution of electricity.
Production
Total installed capacity of generating objects built in Croatia amounts to 3,557 MW, 2,166 MW of which is hydropower and renewable sources share and 1,391 MW comes from thermal and nuclear power plants.
In 2020, domestic production amounted to 13,731 GWh, which was 68% of total domestic demand. Remaining 32% was covered through trade. Total consumption equaled 14,683 GWh, a 5.6% increase from 2020.
Hydropower
Croatia has 28 hydropower plants of which 2 are reversible, 2 small size and 1 pumped storage. They are distributed in three production areas: North, West and South with one independent plant, and are HEP's most important source of renewable energy.
Wind energy
Most of Croatian wind energy is produced by companies in private ownership for difference of other types of energy production. Out of 25 wind firms only one is owned by HEP (VE Korlat) while others are mainly individually owned.
Thermal energy
There are 7 thermal power plants of which 4 are also heating plants and one is combined cycle power plant. Additionally, the first geothermal power plant was opened in 2019, but there are projects and potential for new ones.
Bioenergy
Five biopower plants are now located in Croatia and they are also used for heating purposes.
Nuclear energy
Croatia has no nuclear power plants on its territory, but co-owns the Krško Nuclear Power Plant together with Slovenia. The Krško plant was built in the era of Yugoslavia on the territory of present-day Slovenia. Planned decommissioning is by 2043.
Solar energy
In 2014, HEP built nine solar power plants on the roofs of business buildings. The power plants are located in the office building at the headquarters of HEP in Zagreb and the buildings of the HEP Distribution System Operator. Solar power plants have the status of a privileged producer of electricity, which enables the sale of produced electricity to HROTE at a preferential price. Since 2018, Hrvatska elektroprivreda has started building integrated solar power plants according to the concept of a customer with its own production. This model enables a significant reduction in costs for own consumption of electricity. Most of the produced energy is consumed in the buildings themselves, while the rest of the energy is delivered to the distribution network. HEP's first non-integrated power plant was SE Kaštelir, purchased in 2019 from a private producer, and the first independently built was SE Vis, commissioned in 2020.
Transmission
Croatian transmission grid consists of lines on three different rated voltage levels, namely 400, 220 and 110 kV. Total length of high-voltage lines is while length of medium and low voltage lines is .
The grid was often the target of attacks during Croatian War of Independence, resulting in frequent black-outs during the period. Since then, the grid has been repaired, and reconnected to synchronous grid of Continental Europe synchronous zones 1 and 2, making it an important transit system again.
Distribution
Under the 2004 Energy law, customers in Croatia are allowed to choose their preferred distributor of electricity. However, HEP Operator distribucijskog sustava or HEP-ODS (a Hrvatska elektroprivreda subsidiary) remains the largest distributor to both industry and households. Its distribution grid is long, with 26 859 transformers installed, totaling 23,421 MVA of power.
In 2021 there were 2,132,002 customers, 95.8% of which were households.