Croatian Member Committee

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The Croatia National Committee aims to promote sustainable energy development in Croatia, as a part of the World Energy Council’s energy vision. As a member of the World Energy Council network, the organisation is committed to representing the Croatian perspective within national, regional and global energy debates. The committee includes a variety of members to ensure that the diverse energy interests of Croatia are appropriately represented. Members of the committee are invited to attend high-level events, participate in energy-focused study groups, contribute to technical research and be a part of the global energy dialogue.

Ivica Toljan, Chair of the Croatian WEC Member Committee, is a Board member of Croatian Power Exchange Ltd. (CROPEX Ltd.) since 2018. He has over 35 years of professional experience in the field of energy, energy policy, power system and electricity trading. During his broad work experience, among others, he worked as a Head of electricity Accounting Department and as a Board member in HEP d.d. until 2008, as Assistant director in HROTE Ltd. from 2008 until 2014, and Head of Key Account and Sales in CROPEX Ltd. from 2014 until 2018.

He received his Master`s Degree and PhD from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing at University of Zagreb in 1983 and 2010, respectively. Additionally, in 1994 he completed MBA program from the Zagreb business school, and in 1998 received Master`s degree from the Faculty of Economics and Business at University of Zagreb in the field of Macroeconomics.

Ivica Toljan is a Chair of HRO CIGRÉ Study Committee C5 (Electricity Markets and Regulation), and was a President of HRO CIGRÉ for two mandates (2000-2004-2008). He was also a member of the negotiating team during the Croatian accession to the EU (Chapter 15, Energy), and UCTE (today ENTSO-E) Steering Committee board member from 2000 until 2008. He is a proficient user of English and German language.

Ms. Vajdić was born on November 5, 1989 in Ljubljana. She graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, on Electrical Engineering and Information Technology study program, in 2013 at University of Zagreb. As a scholarship recipient, she completed her MBA program at COTRUGLI Business School in Zagreb in 2018. During her studies, she participated in two international student exchanges in Ljubljana and Vienna and volunteered at the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) in Zagreb. After college, she worked at GEN-I Zagreb d.o.o., and since 2014 she works at the CROATIAN POWER EXCHANGE Ltd. in Market Operation Department. She speaks Slovenian, English and German, and is currently attending a Spanish course.

Energy in Croatia

The Issues Monitor 2021 Croatia Map identifies renewable energies, investor environment and support mechanisms as critical uncertainties, with market design, geopolitics and decentralized systems as action priorities.

Digitalisation represents the best opportunity for increasing efficiency of the whole power system. In parallel, it is necessary to gradually phase out fossil fuels and move to renewable energy sources to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 (integration of increasing levels of renewable energy sources is very high on the priority list). When it comes to market design, it is very important for Croatia to take care of market coupling, prosumers, market for regulation and other services. Market design and governance are very important for a functioning EU internal energy market. Croatia is performing well in this regard, implementing all EU directive within its own legislation.  At the same time, a more open market as well as simplified governance practices need to be provided more widely.

Due to the country’s geographical location, Croatia has the potential to be an energy hub for regional gas supply. On other hand, because of climate conditions there is also good potential for renewable energy sources (wind, solar). Regarding customer-centricity and demand-side innovation, it is very important to achieve direct inclusion of consumers in the market as there is a great opportunity for additional customer income and lower ancillary services costs. It is also extremely important to continue implementing energy efficiency measures in buildings, industry, tertiary sectors, agriculture and transport.

Areas dentified by energy leaders with the potential for big improvements include hydro pump storage plants, geothermal heating, low carbon cities and regions, positive energy districts and offshore development. Croatia has a great opportunity to advance in innovative power and heat production.

The main issues for change in the energy sector are identified as:

Strengthening the energy market as a key component of energy sector development;
Fully integrating the energy market into the EU energy market, technology, research, services, production, and in particular the EU internal energy market;
Strengthening the security of energy supply through growth in domestic production and connective energy infrastructure, as well as the introduction of mechanisms for the development of production capacity;
Increasing energy efficiency in all parts of the energy chain (production, transport/transmission, distribution and consumption of all forms of energy);
Continuously increasing the share of electricity in energy consumption with the aim of reducing fossil fuel consumption;
Continuously increasing electricity production with reduced emissions greenhouse gases – primarily from RES;
Developing commercially available technologies, especially water, solar, wind energy and other RES;
Focusing financial support on the development of the bio-economy and sustainable waste management, and research on pilot and demonstration projects;
Providing risk reduction funds for demanding technologies and marginal commercial technologies (Croatian Energy Development Strategy 2030 with a view to 2050).

The experts responding to the Issues Survey view the energy transition as an opportunity to develop the Croatian domestic industry through increased investment in innovation for air quality protection, environment and healthcare, while increasing the competitiveness of the economy in decarbonisation and RES development. Rapid changes in energy are not possible because the implementation of energy projects is time consuming, and deviations from the agreed plans result in high costs (Croatian Energy Development Strategy 2030 with a view to 2050).