European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič was in Croatia on 29-30 January, 2018, as part of the Energy Union tour.
Šefčovič met Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and the Minister of Energy Tomislav Ćorić. Their discussions focused on the preparation of Croatia's National Energy and Climate Plan for 2021-30, the development of its internal energy market, and its role in regional energy cooperation, including the Central and South Eastern Europe Energy Connectivity (CESEC) initiative.
Croatia is benefiting from the EU's Trans-European Networks for Energy strategy, aimed at improving the energy infrastructure linking EU countries. Several Projects of Common Interest (PCI), which will help to make this happen, are being planned,including high-voltage transmission lines between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and between Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia.
Another PCI, a new LNG terminal in Krk, is set to receive over €100 million of EU funding. The terminal will allow LNG imports from a wide range of sources, improving security of energy supply in the region.
Croatia is already exceeding its renewable energy target of 20% for 2020 thanks to its large hydro-power sector. However, more efforts will be needed to meet its target of 10% renewables in the transport sector: in 2016, renewables accounted for only 1.3% of transport fuel.
