Factsheet for measure
HR-2025-12/3711
–
Updated
– measures in Croatia
State co-funded hydrogen production
Država sufinancira proizvodnju vodika
Background information
Hydrogen is considered the ‘fuel of the future’ in the EU and is important for ensuring energy independence. The largest Croatian company, INA, has been granted public financial support to produce hydrogen. The Ministry of Economy will support INA’s investment in renewable hydrogen production and distribution facilities with €15 million from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026 (NRPP) funds. This will cover about a third of the value of this investment project, which is important in the context of the set energy goals and the fact that there is not a single hydrogen filling station in Croatia to support transport decarbonisation. The Ministry of Economy, based on the submitted documentation, determined that the implementation of the project is conditional on the granting of support because it could not be implemented within the scope and financial timeframe in which it was planned.
Content of measure
INA’s project includes the construction of a production system within the Rijeka Refinery with a capacity of up to four tons of hydrogen per day. Electrolysing operation plants, powered by solar energy, and a hydrogen distribution system for filling stations throughout Croatia will be built. According to INA’s estimate, this would meet the supply needs of at least ten hydrogen filling stations for road transport. The transport decarbonisation project will proceed slowly in the first years. For the project to establish the first electrolyzer and hydrogen distribution, it needs to become profitable and efficient in hydrogen production. According to the Ministry of Economy's statement, this is the beginning of the decarbonisation of transport and the starting point for establishing an economy based on hydrogen. The largest part of the investment, and proportionally the support, relates to the construction of the hydrogen production system itself. Of the total €45.5 million, which is the estimated value of the entire investment, the amount needed for the 11-megawatt photovoltaic power plant and the 10-megawatt accounts for more than €41 million. The remaining €5 million will be allocated to organizing a hydrogen distribution and storage system. This also represents the maximum level of support that could be approved for these areas of investment. The timeframe of the support duration is until the end of 2026.
Updates
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
|
18 November 2025
|
The Minister of Economy, Mr. Ante Šušnjar, states in an interview for the journal that he believes it is important to put industry at the center of economic development in Croatia. He advocates changes to the ease of issuing permits for renewable energy sources. In addition to renewable energy, he also advocates for nuclear and geothermal energy as base-load energy sources. Croatia has many companies that are innovative and play an important role in global projects. For example, the Zagreb-based company DOK-ING has been working on a project to produce green hydrogen from waste for a long time, and green hydrogen is considered an energy source of the future. DOK-ING is a good example of how Croatian companies can be globally recognized for their innovations. Regarding administrative adjustments, when there is a clear goal and strong justification, the Ministry is always open to change. Together with the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Economy has prepared the Regulation on Hydrogen Filling Stations, which is now being submitted for public consultation and final adoption. The Ministry of Economy is very active in supporting the expansion of renewable energy sources in the distribution network, including the production of green hydrogen as well as other renewable environmental energy options. A number of models for adapting the network are being considered, from battery systems that would solve peak loads on the network to technical solutions with more efficient conductors.
|
|
22 July 2025
|
On 22 July 2025, a call for project applications was published for the state to co-finance the production of hydrogen. The deadline for submitting project applications is 23 September 2025. The competent authority is the Ministry of the Economy. The investment aims to improve the use of hydrogen and promote new technologies in Croatia in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector and industry. The stated goal will be achieved by establishing the production of renewable hydrogen and developing the distribution of renewable hydrogen for filling stations in the Republic of Croatia. This directly contributes to the goals set in national and European strategic documents relating to the deployment of electrolyzers for hydrogen production that will produce the target values of hydrogen output. The construction of a 10 MW electrolyzer for the production of renewable hydrogen, and new capacities for the production of electricity from renewable sources (a solar power plant with a total expected nominal power of 11 MW, while the rest of the electricity will be taken from the grid exclusively from renewable energy sources) will lay the foundation for the launch and further development of the hydrogen economy
|
Use of measure
No data available yet
Contents
Target groups
|
Workers
|
Businesses
|
Citizens
|
|
Does not apply to workers
|
Larger corporations
|
Does not apply to citizens
|
Actors and funding
|
Actors
|
Funding
|
National government
Company / Companies
|
Companies
European Funds
National funds
|
Social partners
Social partners' role in
designing the measure
and form of involvement:
|
Trade unions
|
Employers' organisations
|
|
Role
|
No involvement as case not in social partner domain
|
No involvement as case not in social partner domain
|
|
Form
|
Not applicable
|
Not applicable
|
Social partners' role in the
implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
-
No involvement
-
Main level of involvement: Company level
Involvement
Social partners in Croatia always support the green transition and are fully aware of its importance.
Views and reactions
Social partners in Croatia fully support the green transition.
Sectors and occupations
-
This case is sector-specific
-
|
Economic area
|
Sector (NACE level 2)
|
|
D - Electricity, Gas, Steam And Air Conditioning Supply
|
D35 Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply
|
This case is not occupation-specific.
Sources
-
17 March 2025: The State co-funded the production of hydrogen (Država sufinancira proizvodnju vodika)
(www.poslovni.hr)
-
22 July 2025: Public announcement for co-financing the production of hydrogen
(fondovieu.gov.hr)
-
05 November 2025: The Minister supports green transition (Ministar podržava zelenu tranziciju)
(www.hrvatski-izvoznici.hr)
