The Croatian Parliament welcomed the proposal for a national hydrogen strategy until 2050, stressing the importance of economic development based on hydrogen, own energy production and increased electricity production from renewable sources.
“In recent years, Croatia has been making a great effort in decarbonising its energy sector and economy, its goal being to ensure that by 2030 at least 36.6 per cent of electricity consumption comes from renewable sources” said Ivo Milatić, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy.
The proposed strategy follows the EU hydrogen initiative signed by Croatia in 2018.
“The proposal puts emphasis on renewable hydrogen, obtained by low-carbon emitting technologies,” Mr Milatić added. “Some sectors of the Croatian economy have already expressed an interest in developing hydrogen technologies, which is why a government strategic document is needed to give direction to the development of hydrogen technologies.”
Asked whether Croatia is ready for the first phase of the strategy, from 2020 to 2024, which aims to ensure the production of one million tonnes of renewable hydrogen, the State Secretary recalled that under the National Recovery Plan, Croatia has undertaken to install 10 refuelling stations over the next three years and finance a certain number of electrolysers.
In particular, Mr Milatić explained that 60 public transport buses in Zagreb would switch to hydrogen use and that a hydrogen refuelling station would be installed for that purpose.
As the price of one kilogram of hydrogen currently ranges between 12 and 15 euro and Croatia plans to invest more than 9.3 billion euros in renewables, some Members of the Parliament expressed concerns over financing.
Mr Milatić said that conventional renewable energy sources, such as wind and sun, would require minimum or no state subsidies in the near future.
“Our focus will be on small solar cells on houses and on new technologies, and among new technologies, hydrogen will dominate financially and in any other respect,” he underlined.
