Renewables made up 19.5 per cent of Croatia’s power generation in December 2023, according to a monthly report by industry association RES Croatia.
Hydroelectric plants played a dominant role in the production of electricity (available energy) in December 2023, with reservoir recharging amounting to 84 GWh, the report said.
TE Plomin experienced reduced production (35 GWh) during December due to operational issues, while RHE Velebit had significant activity in its pump-turbine operation (pump operation consumption was 27 GWh).
NE Krško operated at full power, 0.2 per cent above its nominal capacity, and all safety systems were operational, with the Sava River heating far below the permitted 3 degrees Celcius.
Renewables completely met the electricity consumption on a daily level for 4 days in December, RES Croatia highlighted.
To balance the hourly ledger, significant exchange on the interconnections was necessary (imports amounted to 95 GWh, and exports to 148 GWh) of electricity (net export of 53 GWh).
The maximum domestic daily consumption was 59,086 MWh (8 December 2023), and the minimum was 41,021 MWh (25 December 2023).
The maximum coverage of domestic consumption on a daily level by renewables (excluding large hydroelectric plants) amounted to 43.5 per cent on 15 December, with the production that day being 23,832 MWh, of which wind farms contributed 20,988 MWh at an average of 874.5 MWh/h.
The minimum coverage of domestic consumption on a daily level by renewable energy sources (excluding large hydroelectric plants) was on December 19, amounting to 6.2 per cent, with the production that day being 3,452 MWh, of which wind farms contributed 478 MWh, averaging 19.9 MWh/h.
During November 2023, VE Bruvno with a capacity of 45 MW entered trial operation, with the installed capacity of all wind farms now amounting to 1,160.15 MW, while the approved capacity for connection to the grid is 1,136.85 MW, according to the report.
The total production of wind farms in December amounted to 243,901 MWh. The capacity utilisation factor was 28.8 per cent (the average for December in the period from 2011 to 2022 was 31.8 per cent).
The average hourly production of wind farms in December was 327.8 MWh/h, with a maximum hourly production of 969 MWh/h (maximum 15-minute production was 983 MW) and the maximum capacity utilisation factor at the hourly level was 85.2 per cent.
With the current installed capacity in 2024, given the average annual capacity factor from 2011 to 2023 of 27.3 per cent, the annual production of wind farms is expected to be 2,726 GWh, RES Croatia said.
A total of 238.7 MW of new solar capacity entered the power system in December, the highest of all technologies in the power system. By 1 January 2024, a total of 462.5 MW of solar capacity was in operation.
The development of solar power plants is following an exponential trend as shown in the upper figure.
If the current trend in solar power plant development continues and the framework conditions for it are created, RES Croatia estimated that a solar capacity of 963 MW could be achieved by 1 January 2025.
Power prices on the Croatian power exchange
The average hourly price in December 2023 was 75.62 euros/MWh, compared to December 2022, when it was 264.62 euros/MWh, representing a decrease of 189.00 euros/MWh, or 71.4 per cent. Also, there was a decrease in the average electricity prices in December compared to November 2023 by 20.11 euros/MWh.
In December 2023, the Euro-Peak price (08-20 hours) on the Croatian market was 89.86 euros/MWh, which is higher than the average base price (00-24 hours) by 14.24 euros/MWh.
As further noted in the monthly report, a very good realisation of market value for almost all individual technologies in the power balance was achieved, thanks to the production operators, trading operators, and system operators who market the production of hydroelectric and thermal power plants and exchange at the most favourable market prices. Favourable trends in power sector opportunities and market prices in December 2023 also played a role.
The overall economic effect of good operation by operators concerning market prices amounted to about +15.7 million euros(excluding wind farms, solar power plants, and other renewable energy sources), RES Croatia said.
The report was created using publicly available data published on the websites: HEP, HOPS, ODS, HROTE, CROPEX, NE Krško, ENTSO, DZS, RTE France, RED Electrica, World Data, IEA, EEX, EPEX, IRENA.
