Abbreviated form of legal source
Energy Act
RES Act
Electricity Market Act
Act on the Regulation of Energy Activities
Ordinance on energy activity licences
Description of the process
In Croatia, natural and legal persons can generally only produce energy if they have previously obtained a License for performing an energy activity from the Croatian Energy Regulatory Agency (CERA), which, among other things, enables electricity production (art. 15 and 16 par. 1 Energy Act).
However, all producers with a total installed capacity of up to 1 MW are exempted from this obligation (art. 16 par. 3 of the Energy Act and art. 10 par. 2 of the Electricity Market Act), along with private producers who have installed PV panels on top of their homes for their own energy needs.
Currently, there are 68 registered electricity producers in Croatia (holders of the License for performing an energy activity).
The process of obtaining this permit is mainly governed by the Ordinance on licences for performing energy activities and on keeping of the register of issued and cancelled licences and the Energy Activity Regulation Act. The prerequisites are to prove the necessary technical, professional and financial qualification to provide the envisaged service of electricity production. The permit may be withdrawn by CERA, if the said requirements are no longer met.
Most of the electricity production permits are granted for a period of 5-7 years.
The CERA is obliged to issue a decision on the energy activity permit within 30 days from the date of submission of an application. If inspection of the construction is needed, the permit must be issued within 60 days (art. 12 of the Ordinance on licences for performing energy activities and on keeping of the register of issued and cancelled licences). 3 months prior to expiry of the permit, the producer of energy must apply for a new permit (an extension) (art. 17 of the Ordinance on licences for performing energy activities and on keeping of the register of issued and cancelled licences).
Competent authority
Hrvatska energetska regulatorna agencija (HERA)