Energy Supply
Croatia has no coal deposits and only modest oil and gas reserves (15 Mt and 4.7 bcm by the end of 2020). It has up to 11.8 GW of wind potential, 6.8 GW of solar potential (5.3 GW for utility-scale projects and 1.5 GW for rooftop projects), and 500 MW of geothermal potential.
Electricity
The nation has a 4.6 GW capacity, of which 2.2 GW is hydro, 1.6 GW is thermal, 0.8 GW is wind, and 0.1 GW is solar. 2/3 of the installed capacity is made up of renewable sources. With the commissioning of the 58 MW and 156 MW Senj wind farms in 2021, wind capacity rose. Hydrological circumstances have a significant impact on power generation. Despite less hydropower output in 2020, a 4.9% increase in power generation to more than 13 TWh was made possible by increased gas-powered and wind production. Preliminary data indicate that in 2021, power generation increased by 13% to 15 TWh due to a 25% increase in hydropower output and a 20% increase in wind generation.
In 2021, the proportion of hydro in the power mix increased to 47% while the gas ratio climbed to 20%. Since 2014, the percentage of wind has doubled, reaching 13% in 2020 (compared to 1% for solar). Overall, 58% of the energy mix comes from renewable sources. With Hungary (600 MW for import and 500 MW for export in 2022), Slovenia (600 MW), Serbia (150 MW), and Bosnia and Herzegovina (600 MW), Croatia has power connections with all four of these nations (400 MW).
In 2021, electricity exports increased by 11% to around 5.9 TWh, while imports fell by 8% to 10.5 TWh. In 2021, power exchanges rose once more (+8% for imports and +28% for exports).
Oil
The crude oil production has been low and consistent at 0.8 Mt since 2016 but is expected to decrease by 10% to 0.7 Mt in 2020 (and by -5% to 0.6 Mt in 2021, according to early projections). Imports increased by about 10% in 2020 (-3% for crude oil but +120% for refinery feedstocks), but according to early projections, crude oil imports will decline by 9% in 2021. Due to the poor utilization rate of the refineries, they decreased by 11%/year between 2009 (4.1 Mt) and 2014 (2.4 Mt) but recovered between 2014 and 2018 (+9%/year to 3.3 Mt in 2018). In 2019, a lengthy refurbishment at the Rijeka refinery helped increase oil product imports by 31% to 2.5 Mt and decrease imports of crude oil by 30% to 2.3 Mt.
The 90 kb/d Rijeka refinery became Croatia's sole refinery at the end of 2019 after the 44 kb/d Sisak refinery ceased processing crude oil. Oil product output decreased again in 2019 (-26% to 2.9 Mt) and 2020 (-12% to 2.6 Mt), following a 9%/year decline between 2009 and 2014 (3 Mt) and a recovery in 2018 (4 Mt). Preliminary estimates indicate that it will fall again in 2021 (-5% to 2.5 Mt), while imports will increase by 15% to 2.3 Mt.
Natural Gas
Due to the depletion of onshore gas resources, gas output decreased by 8 %/year between its high level of 2.9 bcm in 2007 and 1 bcm in 2019 and by 17% to 0.8 bcm in 2020. Preliminary estimates indicated a 12% decline in 2021. Two of MOL's fields, Vukovec and Zebanec (Meimurje project), began producing gas in 2016, and a third field, Vukanovec, began producing in 2020. The majority of the three areas' anticipated one bcm of gas will be utilized by 2024.
In 2020, only 28% of the nation's demands were met by natural gas production, down from 84% in 2010. Due to increased demand in the power industry, gas imports increased by 26% in 2019 and 7% in 2020 to reach 2.1 billion cubic meters. In 2020, 27% of gas imports came from Slovenia and 70% from Hungary. According to early projections, gas imports are predicted to increase by 4% to 2.2 bcm in 2021.
Coal
The nation is connected to Slovenia by a 1.7 bcm/year gas import pipeline from Bosiljevo through Karlovac, Luko, and Zabok on Croatian soil to Rogatec in Slovenia. Since 2011, it is also connected to Hungary by a 2.5 bcm/year gas pipeline that runs from Slobodnica (Croatia) to Varosfold (Hungary), though it has only been used a little since it was put into service. To connect the Croatian and Polish LNG terminals, a pipe from Omialj to Zlobin was put into service in January 2021 as part of the EU's "Baltic-Adriatic gas corridor." Additionally, Croatia has an export capacity of 1.6 bcm per year to Hungary and 250 mcm per year to Slovenia.
Source: Enerdata
Last update: 07 2023