Renewable energy sources
Renewable energy sources (RES)
The definition of renewable energy sources in the Croatian Energy Act reads: “energy resources preserved in nature that can be fully or partially renewed, specifically energy of water streams, wind energy, solar energy, biodiesel, biomass, biogas, geothermal energy, etc.”
Renewable energy sources include:
Kinetic energy of the wind (wind power)
Thermal energy from the Earth’s core and hot springs (geothermal energy)
- Potential energy of watercourses (hydropower)
- Potential energy from tides and sea waves
- Thermal energy of the sea
- As an EU Member State, the Republic of Croatia committed to transpose the European energy-climate package, which includes Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. By transposing this Directive, Croatia committed to increase the use of energy from renewable sources, where the share of RES in gross final consumption by 2020 should amount to no less than 20% at EU level. TheEnergy Strategy of the Republic of Croatia mentions a reduction in the use of electricity for heating as one of development guidelines and, among other things, it establishes the goal of installing 0.225 m2 of solar heat collectors per capita by 2020.
The Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund co-financed the purchase of RES systems to the citizens, companies, units of local and regional self-government, and other institutions. The co-financing scheme was intended solely for own-use systems through energy retrofit programmes (systems using renewable energy sources are considered to be eligible costs under the programmes of energy retrofit of family houses, multi-residential buildings and commercial buildings), implemented through a public call for co-financing the projects for using RES in the tourism sector and a public contest for co-financing RES intended for companies, tradesmen and legal persons in the public sector that wish to invest in RES projects.