Combined with its hydro-power and good geographical position, the tripling of its electricity generation (up to 30 gigawatts) from solar and wind sources, Croatia could be transformed from an energy-importing country into an energy hub for South-East Europe, European Commission Vice President in charge of Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič said in Zagreb on Tuesday 30 January.
Speaking at a conference on Croatia’s new energy strategy at the Zagreb University Faculty of Economics, Šefčovič underlined the key role of the future LNG terminal off the island of Krk for Croatia and also for the energy security of the whole EU, enabling delivery of gas supplies in all directions and boosting competitiveness on the market and bringing a drop in price, the Croatian agency HINA reports.
The commissioner said that the Klaipeda liquefied natural gas floating storage and regasification unit terminal in Lithuania, opened in 2014, had paved the way for a 20-30% drop in the country’s gas price.
Šefčovič explained, too, that EU financial assistance applied for by Croatia could be allocated to the Krk terminal only if the country was the owner of the terminal.
In December 2017, the EU promised €101.4 million for the Krk LNG terminal and, more recently, an additional €16 million for the gas pipeline that would be connected to it.
“The golden rule of energy security is diversification of supply” Šefčovič stated, calling on the countries of South-East Europe to improve their energy interconnections and to provide gas supplies from at least three sources.
He also stressed the importance of the southern gas corridor to carry gas from the Caspian region to the EU, thereby reducing dependence on imports of energy from Russia. He said that the corridor should be put into operation by 2020.
Commissioner Šefčovič had earlier met Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic to discuss European and Croatian energy and environmental challenges.
The two discussed management of European and national energy and climate plans for 2021-2030, development of the internal energy market and its role in regional cooperation in energy, including the Central and South-Eastern European Energy Connectivity (CESEC) initiative, a government press release said.
Plenković gave assurances that energy policy was one of the priorities of his government and that that included security of supply, development of interconnections between South-East European states and implementation of projects of common interest with neighbouring countries. Croatia plans to adopt a new energy strategy by the end of the year that will be in line with these objectives, he pledged. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)