Energy crisis on the horizon - how prepared is Croatia?

The world is facing a serious energy crisis! The war between Israel and the US against Iran has shaken global economies - oil and gas prices have risen, part of the supply is still blocked in the Persian Gulf. If the war continues - a chain reaction will follow - production and transport costs are rising, food prices are rising.

How important it is to be energy self-sufficient - has become clearer than ever before. Where is Croatia in this? We have the potential for domestic, renewable energy sources, but how much of them are we using?

Dražen Jakšić, director of the Energy Institute "Hrvoje Požar", said on Croatian Television’s Studio 4 show that stock exchanges monitor the situation on the ground and reflect the current supply and demand relationship in the markets, but also take into account expectations of future developments.

On Wednesday, the government adopted a decision to release 35,000 tons of diesel from mandatory stocks of oil and oil derivatives onto the market, the purpose of which is to participate in European efforts to stabilize the market, and this is not an extraordinary measure or situation, because the fuel supply in Croatia is regular.

“An action was taken at the EU level where certain quantities were released from strategic commodity reserves, precisely in order to influence the market in terms of reducing prices,” he said.

He added that we have no problems with supply, stocks and there is no problem that there will be a shortage of energy sources and, as he says, we can be quite sure of that. Croatia has 90 days of stocks of oil and oil derivatives.

“If the war lasts a long time, the market will certainly stabilize at some level. If we assume that the Strait of Hormuz will not be open for a long period of time, the rise in oil prices would influence the existing oil producers to increase their production, which they are already doing, and for some time the situation would stabilize, but at a slightly higher price level than it is now. On the other hand, higher fuel prices reduce demand,” he pointed out.

“The only way we can react at this moment is savings. The government cannot protect us from import costs if we do not reduce consumption. What the Government does well is to distribute the cost to certain sectors that are more vulnerable, including agriculture, social vulnerability of the population. We will pay this cost through taxes and other forms in the budget because we will have to service the increased debt,” Jakšić emphasized.

He pointed out that Croatia has three-quarters of electricity production from renewable sources and that we are better than most EU countries.

“The problem is that the further construction of renewable energy sources does not sufficiently replace the decline in fossil fuel production. We have a decline in the production of domestic natural gas, oil and oil derivatives. Today, we meet less than 20 percent of our own needs with our own oil. When we look at the overall energy balance, Croatia imports over 50 percent. We import over 80 percent of our oil needs and over 75 percent of our gas,” he said.

He emphasizes that the return on investment in renewable energy is 6-7 years.

Solar panels on family homes are quite popular. The Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund holds regular tenders for subsidizing the construction of such facilities, and many have taken advantage of this and increased their own energy independence and reduced their electricity bills.

“We need to reach consumers and change their styles and habits. This requires investment,” he said.

He added that Croatia has had a decade of intensive development of wind farms. We have built over 2,000 megawatts of them and today they make up a significant share of our electricity production.

Jakšić concluded that renewable energy is the only way to get rid of our dependence on fossil fuels. “Our goal,” he says, “is to become carbon neutral and produce no CO2 by 2050. This is the only way to become energy independent.”

Source: HRT