Croatia Energy Information

Croatia Energy Research

- Croatia's Energy & Climate Policy Framework: Croatia aims for 42.5% renewable energy by 2030, with policies overseen by the Ministry of Economy and HERA. The NECP targets energy efficiency, decarbonisation, and market integration. Croatia plans to phase out coal by 2033 and has allocated EUR 652m for renewable energy and decarbonisation in 2025. The electricity market, liberalised in 2013, has seen limited customer switching. Croatia is advancing renewable energy, hydrogen, and nuclear power while improving energy efficiency and reducing GHG emissions.

- Croatia's Energy Companies: HEP, a state-owned firm, dominates Croatia's electricity market, generating 70% of power and supplying over 90% of retail sales. INA is the sole oil and gas producer. The electricity sector was restructured in 2013, with HEP split into five entities. HEP-Proizvodnja operates 3.4 GW of capacity, including hydropower, thermal, and renewables. The transmission network is managed by HOPS, while HEP-ODS handles distribution. The retail market is highly concentrated, with HEP supplying 92% of customers. INA, the national oil and gas company, produces oil and gas domestically and abroad, operates refineries, and manages service stations. Plinacro oversees gas transmission, and HEP Plin leads the retail gas market. The district heating sector has been reformed to enhance competition, with HEP Toplinarstvo as the largest distributor.

- Croatia's Energy Supply & Demand: Croatia's energy mix relies heavily on hydropower, with oil and gas production declining. Total energy consumption grew 1.5% in 2024, with renewables covering 30%. Electricity generation is hydropower-dependent, and CO₂ intensity is low. Oil and gas imports are rising, while coal use has halved since 2010. GHG emissions are increasing slightly but are projected to decrease significantly by 2050.

- Croatia's Energy Use & Price by Sector: Croatia's final energy demand has risen sharply since 2022, with oil as the primary source. Electricity prices for industry doubled by 2024, prompting government support measures. Residential and transport sectors dominate consumption, while industrial demand stabilised. Government interventions aimed to mitigate price surges.

- Croatia's Issues & Prospects: Croatia plans to expand its Krk LNG terminal capacity to 6.1 bcm/year and convert gas networks for hydrogen use. Energy consumption is projected to remain stable until 2030, with a slight decline by 2040. Electricity capacity will grow, primarily from wind and solar, while coal projects are abandoned. Gas and hydrogen infrastructure projects are underway, including new pipelines and storage facilities.

Croatia Total Energy Production & Consumption

Total energy consumption grew by 1.5% in 2024 to 8.8 Mtoe after a 3.2% decrease in 2022 and a 3.9% rebound in 2023. It declined by almost 1%/year on average between 2010 and 2019 and was back to its 2019 level in 2023.

Total energy consumption per capita reached 2.3 toe in 2024, which is 18% below the EU average.

Graph: Primary Consumption Trends by Energy Source

Source: Croatia energy report

Interactive Chart Croatia Total Energy Production & Consumption

Source: Global Energy & CO₂ data

Croatia Oil Production & Consumption

Crude oil production is low and, after a plateau at around 800 kt between 2016 and 2018, is declining (-5%/year between 2018 and 2023), reaching 602 kt in 2024.

Graph: Crude Oil Production & Consumption

Petroleum Infrastructure

Source: JANAF

Source: Croatia energy report

Interactive Chart Croatia Crude Oil Production & Consumption

Source: Global Energy & CO₂ data

Interactive Chart Croatia Refined Oil Products Production & Consumption

Source: Global Energy & CO₂ data

Croatia Natural Gas Production & Consumption

Gas production has been declining since its peak level of 2.9 bcm in 2007, with an acceleration since 2015 (-11%/year), to 691 mcm in 2023 (-7% in 2023). However, it rebounded by 9% to 756 mcm in 2024.

Source: Croatia energy report

Interactive Chart Croatia Gas Production & Consumption

Source: Global Energy & CO₂ data

Croatia Coal and Lignite Production & Consumption

All the coal is imported (0.3 Mt in 2024, half its 2023 level) as Croatia stopped producing coal in 1997. Coal consumption halved from 2010 to 2018 and has been averaging 0.6-0.7 Mt since then (0.6 Mt in 2023), depending on hydropower availability, and even falling by 1/3 in 2024 to 0.4 Mt. Previously, coal consumption more than tripled between 1999 and 2004 following the commissioning of the 210 MW Plomin-2 power plant and remained broadly stable at around 1.1 Mt/year until 2016; it fell by 40% in 2017 after a fire at Plomin-1, where operations have been suspended.

Source: Croatia energy report

Interactive Chart Croatia Coal and Lignite Production & Consumption

Source: Global Energy & CO₂ data

Croatia Renewable in % Electricity Production

The final updated NECP (2025) raised the 2030 target for the share of renewables in the final energy consumption to 42.5%, including 76.7% for electricity, 47.1% for heating and cooling, and 24.6% in transport. It should reach 53-65% in 2050 (Energy Development Strategy, 2020). In 2023, renewables covered 28% of final energy consumption, including 59% for electricity, 36% for heating and cooling and 0.9% in transport. The 2020 target of the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP, 2013) for a share of 20% of renewables was largely exceeded (by 11 points).

Source: Croatia energy report

Interactive Chart Croatia Share of Renewables in Electricity Production (incl hydro)

Source: Global Energy & CO₂ data

Croatia GHG emissions and CO₂ emissions

In its final updated NECP, Croatia aims to cut its GHG emissions by 62% in 2030 (compared with 2005 level) in ETS sectors and by 16.7% in non-ETS sectors (up from 43% and 7%, respectively, in the initial NECP). For the LULUCF sector, it targets a net removal of 5.5 MtCO2eq in 2030 (compared to 2005).

Source: Croatia energy report

Interactive Chart Croatia CO₂ emissions

Source: Global Energy & CO₂ data