In order to increase the country’s (and region’s) security of supply, Croatia’s government decided to expand the capacity of the liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal on the island of Krk to more than 6.1 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year, from the current 2.6 bcm. At the same time, it was decided the construction of a new gas pipeline that will connect the towns of Zlobin and Bosiljevo in the northwestern part of the country.
The Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Davor Filipović described the decision as a strategic one that will help Croatia position itself as a leader in the energy talks in Central and Eastern Europe.
To carry out both projects, worth 180 million euros, the government will use European Union funds together with allocations from the State budget.
Also, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković noted how strategic and important this decision is for regional energy security, emphasising the important role that Plinacro, the Croatia transmission system operator, will play. According to him, Croatia is becoming a regional energy centre when it comes to the high-quality use of terminals for LNG. He mentioned, for example, Germany which is planning to build two LNG terminals by 2024 that will have an overall capacity of 13 bcm per year.
“This means that one of our terminals is practically half of the capacity of Germany,” underlined the Prime Minister.
