ZAGREB, 10 April (Hina) – According to draft amendments to the Law on Renewable Energy Sources and High-Efficiency Cogeneration, which the government submitted to Parliament on Thursday, the national target for renewable energy usage by 2030 will increase from 36.6% to 42.5%.

Еconomy Minister Ante Šušnjar stated that this is an ambitious but achievable goal, confirming the government’s strategic direction in the energy transition.

Under the amendments, a new system for the consumption of self-generated renewable energy and self-sufficiency will be established, starting from 1 January 2026. This is due to Croatia receiving a two-year extension to apply EU legislation provisions that no longer allow consumers in self-supply to benefit from subsidies by not paying grid fees and other charges when taking electricity from the grid.

In this regard, the self-supply model will be changed, eliminating net metering for new users, while for existing users, this model will be retained for up to ten years from the issuance of the permanent operation certificate.

Instead of net metering, net billing will be introduced, where the value of energy supplied will be used to reduce bills, while the fee for using the grid will be calculated based on the total energy taken from the grid and will no longer be reduced by the amount of energy supplied back into the grid. This methodology will allow the value of the energy supplied to be used to reduce bills.

Furthermore, for public service providers and households, production for self-consumption will also include the generation of electricity from renewable sources located behind other metering points (at a distant location), provided that the metering points belong to the same self-supply consumer of renewable energy.

The proposal also stipulates that support for energy from renewable sources generated through waste incineration will not be granted unless the obligations for separate waste collection are met.