Boštjan Napast, president of the management board of ENNA Group and Ivana Ivančić, director of ENNA Geo, presented Group’s geothermal power plant projects in Croatia

Zagreb, March 26, 2025 – Boštjan Napast, president of the management board of ENNA Group, and Ivana Ivančić, director of ENNA Geo, participated on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in the conference "Energy Revolution: The Path to a Sustainable Future," organized by Poslovni dnevnik.

The conference brought together key stakeholders from Croatia's energy sector—including representatives of major companies, state institutions, and experts—who discussed the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition toward a sustainable future.

Boštjan Napast took part in a panel discussion titled "Leaders of the Energy Industry: Guidelines for the Future" alongside Zsuzsanna Ortutay, president of the management board of INA, and Petar Sprčić, management board member of HEP. They discussed the future directions of energy sector development and investments in green technologies.

Boštjan Napast emphasized that ENNA envisions a green future, meaning that the company invests in renewable energy projects, with a particular focus on geothermal power plant projects.

"We are pleased that the state has recognized geothermal energy as a strategic priority and acknowledged that it is a highly CAPEX-intensive technology requiring government support. For example, the CAPEX for our well amounts to €15 million. Germany and Italy have already implemented support measures—Germany incentivizes producers with €252/MWh for a full 20 years, while Italy offers €200/MWh for 25 years. According to our law, government incentives would last 12 years, but despite having this legal framework, the state has not issued geothermal quotas for three years. We have been ready for the tender for more than a year and a half," said the President of the Management Board of ENNA Group.

He also highlighted the issue of the lack of unit fee determinations for connecting to the power grid. Additionally, he addressed administrative challenges in the context of battery storage investments, another rapidly developing focus of ENNA Group.

"As investors, we have been working on battery storage projects for a year now, and we are facing numerous challenges due to the lack of secondary legislation. There are no established procedures for spatial planning, building permits, environmental protection processes, grid connection, or network usage fees. It is essential to enable straightforward procedures for construction in all industrial zones, especially where there are large industrial consumers," said Boštjan Napast.

He also spoke about ENNA Group's expansion plans in other markets.

"We have been operating in Slovenia for a year now and are satisfied with how we started. Italy, on the other hand, is a massive market where we are already active in gas supply, and we are now expanding into other segments. Our core idea across all markets is to offer customers a one-stop-shop experience. This means we provide electricity and gas supply, the development of renewable energy sources and battery storage, as well as aggregation services, or virtual power plants. Essentially, customers can address all their energy needs in one place and transform energy costs into revenue," explained the President of the management board of ENNA Group.

Panel on Geothermal Energy

Ivana Ivančić, Director of ENNA Geo, participated in a panel discussion on the utilization of geothermal energy. She stated that ENNA is developing two geothermal power plant projects near Slatina and Babina Greda. The GTE Zagocha project near Slatina is the most advanced of its kind in Croatia, and earlier this month, the first exploitation well was completed at the Slatina 2 field, reaching a depth of 4,582 meters. The continuation of the project depends on the announcement of a tender for awarding market premiums for geothermal technology.

"HROTE already started preparatory work, including questionnaires and surveys for the tender back in September 2023, however, the tender has not been announced yet. The reason for the lack of the tender is a question for the Ministry of Economy and HROTE. If the premium tender is not announced this year, the realization of the project will not be possible before the end of 2029," said Ivana Ivančić, explaining that negotiations are ongoing with equipment suppliers for the power plant, but no contracts can be signed until the project becomes bankable.

"These are long-term projects. The lifespan of a geothermal power plant is over 40 years. A major advantage of geothermal energy is that it is here; the geothermal water is in Croatia. Earlier in this conference, small nuclear power plants were mentioned as an option for Croatia, but for those, you will have to buy nuclear fuel. With geothermal, you have your own resource, which is invaluable in today's geopolitical climate," said Ivančić. She also highlighted another advantage of geothermal energy—the potential for its use in greenhouse production, for which there are already examples in Croatia.

Alongside Ivana Ivančić, Ana Lazo, director of field development and geothermal energy at INA, and Dario Hrebak, Mayor of Bjelovar, participated in the panel.

Also present at the conference was the Minister of Economy, Ante Šušnjar. He announced that HERA is expected to soon adopt a regulation on the fee for connecting renewable energy sources to the grid, which has been awaited for almost three years and is blocking numerous projects.

"The fee will be zero, meaning there will be no fee; however, the contracts will be flexible, and the operator will be able to disconnect them from the grid at any time. Consequently, this means we encourage investors to invest in battery storage capacity to store energy at times when its market price is lowest and sell it when demand on the market is higher, thus achieving a higher price. At the same time, we are working with the Ministry of Construction and Spatial Planning to resolve regulations and permits regarding the installation of battery systems," Minister Šušnjar announced. He also confirmed that negotiations are underway with Italy regarding the laying of a subsea cable and the construction of an interconnection between Italy and Croatia, which, in his opinion, would resolve the issue of the Lika – Dalmatia power line, as well as the distribution of electricity from solar and wind power plants, without administrative barriers.

More about the conference can be read on poslovni.hr.

Photo by: Matija Habljak/PIXSELL