Energy communities still face considerable hurdles in Croatia, where the solar sector looks primarily to Austria as a pioneer in the field, even as Croatian citizens and local communities increasingly want to invest in the shared use of solar installations themselves.
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Hurdles for energy communities
Nevertheless, widespread implementation continues to be held back by regulatory, administrative and technical obstacles, as the Green Energy Cooperative (Zelena Energetska Zadruga, ZEZ) has found. "The European framework gives citizens the right to generate, consume, store and sell their own renewable energy, and to join renewable energy communities," says Goran Čačić, expert for sustainable energy and citizen energy at ZEZ. "This right must not remain an empty promise once European rules are transposed into Croatian law. We have to make sure that citizens can exercise it easily and effectively."
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Conference to lay out approaches
To give the topic fresh momentum, ZEZ is organising the international conference "Energy Communities in Practice" together with the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds and the development agency of Zadar County (Zadar Nova), taking place on 24 and 25 September 2026 in Bol on the island of Brač.
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Routes to shared installations
The conference will explore the various models and routes for setting up local energy communities in Croatia, from raising capital to finance shared installations to the practical realities of operating jointly owned renewable power plants. Drawing on real-world examples, it will show participants how citizens can organise their own installations within an energy community.
Energy Communities in Practice will take place at the Bluesun Hotel Elaphusa in Bol. The full programme is available here, and attendance is free of charge, though registration is required. (su)
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