Croatia experienced accelerated growth in renewables over the past year, yet the sector faces critical bottlenecks. By the end of 2024, the country had reached 3.8 GW of installed renewable capacity, of which 872 MW came from solar, 990 MW from wind, and 1.93 GW from hydropower.

“Solar energy stands out as the most dynamic, with installations nearly doubling in just one year and likely to surpass one gigawatt in 2025,” says Melani Furlan, Chief PV Design Engineer at the Zelena energetska zadruga (ZEZ) cooperative, in conversation with Strategic Energy Europe.

However, this expansion is facing major hurdles. A new Renewable Energy Sources and High-Efficiency Cogeneration Act is being prepared, which will mean the transition from the net metering system to net billing, extending payback periods for self-consumption installations. According to Furlan, “this will lead to investment return periods that are up to 30% longer.”

“To maintain the momentum of citizen investments in solar energy, it will be crucial to successfully implement the new market mechanisms and entities recently introduced in the legislation, such as energy communities,” the specialist points out.

In addition to this regulatory shift, Furlan warns that several obstacles continue to hinder the acceleration of the energy transition. “The biggest issue is the grid infrastructure, which is particularly outdated, the permitting process is long, and public trust in institutions is low,” she states. This distrust is partly due to regulatory and policy inconsistency, which discourages long-term investments.

To this is added a pricing distortion: “Subsidized electricity prices make grid energy seem cheaper than it really is, which hampers investment in solar,” states the ZEZ representative.

Sector challenges and future vision

Croatia faces technical, economic, and legal limitations to further scale its renewable energy system.

“We believe that enabling the simple establishment of energy communities, ensuring the economic viability of their operations, and enabling in practice the sharing of energy among their members is the only correct path toward local sustainability, energy security, stability, independence, and a just energy transition,” says Furlan.

However, the current legislation does not yet allow for such energy sharing among members. The representative of ZEZ explains that this requires two conditions: upgrading HEP ODS’s technical systems to enable shared billing and fair rules for grid usage that make such operations economically viable.

In addition, public and private investment is required to overcome the bottlenecks. “Technical and financial support for energy communities, along with citizen education, is essential,” she emphasizes.

The role of the NECP and expectations

The updated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) sets a target to raise the share of renewables in energy consumption from 36.4% to 42.5% by 2030. Although recent years have seen notable progress, the current context suggests that achieving this goal will require substantial adjustments in policies, governance, and citizen participation.

For ZEZ, the vision is clear: they will continue to push for legislative changes and develop concrete projects that demonstrate that citizen energy is viable and necessary. “Our approach combines economic logic, social impact, and environmental sustainability,” concludes Furlan.

Citizen-led projects for a just transition

ZEZ, a non-profit cooperative with nearly 12 years of experience promoting citizen energy in Croatia, works intensively to empower citizens as the main actors of the energy transition.

One of its pioneering initiatives was the “Križevci Sunny Roofs” program, developed in collaboration with the local government of that city. The project enabled citizens to collectively invest in solar installations on public buildings. “We are currently in the final stage of construction of our third plant in Križevci, a 200 kW facility that is 100% citizen-owned,” explains Furlan. The system is mounted on the municipal market and is expected to be inaugurated this April.

In addition, ZEZ created the cooperative ZEZ Sunce with 127 founding members, specifically to expand citizen investment in solar energy.

Education, tools and support

ZEZ operates along three main pillars: supporting households to install solar panels, promoting collective projects, and legislative advocacy.

“We developed a non-profit turnkey service for households and entrepreneurs. We create opportunities for citizens to become co-owners of solar power plants on buildings or public spaces,” says Furlan. They also offer post-installation support and technical training spaces such as webinars, workshops and roadshows.
In four years, they have trained over 15,000 citizens, visiting 30 cities and 16 districts of Zagreb.

Among the most tangible results are:

• 250 residential installations totaling 3 MW of capacity

• 2 MW additionally installed by municipalities with ZEZ support

• A total of 5 MW directly managed, with annual CO₂ reductions of 954 tonnes

• A solar calculator used by more than 4,000 people

• A digital solar literacy course completed by 100 citizens

• A digital community, “Solarni klub,” with 40,000 members

“We managed to get cities like Poreč, Pula, Ivanić Grad, Prelog, and Slavonski Brod to offer financial support for citizens to install solar systems,” notes Furlan, and confirms they are working to achieve 400 new solar installations in 2025.