FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG – INCLUSIVE ENERGY TRANSITION IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE share of 28.5 per cent, 161 the 2030 target is not very ambi­tious. It will anyway need to be strengthened to align with the Fit for 55 package. None of Croatia’s strategic documents defined a coal phase­out date, despite the fact that Croatia has only one coal power plant and that it uses imported coal. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovi ć announced at the Novem­ber 2021 UN Climate Change Conference(COP 26) that the plant would close by 2033 at the latest 162 – a deadline which looks certain to be brought forward considering coal’s in­creasingly poor economics. Energy poverty is a significant problem that will hold back any transition if not addressed. There is still no clear defini­tion of energy poverty, nor indicators to clearly measure it. However, in 2018, 7.7 per cent of the Croatian population was unable to keep their home adequately warm – slightly above the EU average of 7.3 per cent – while 17.5 per cent of the population was unable to pay utility bills on time due to financial difficulties, far above the EU’s 6.6 per cent aver­age. 164 A draft of a long-awaited Programme for the Elimi­nation of Energy Poverty was recently reported to have been completed, 165 but at the time of writing it has not yet been adopted. Considering coal accounted for only 9 per cent of Croatia’s domestic electricity generation in 2020 while gas accounted for more than 25 per cent, the latter will be more of a chal­lenge to phase out, and Croatia’s strategies show it is plan­ning to delay most action on this to beyond 2040. INCLUSIVE ENERGY TRANSITION JUST TRANSITION In 2020 the city of Zagreb and the area of Petrinja, Glina and Sisak were hit by earthquakes which necessitated consider­able reconstruction efforts. These are progressing slowly and there is a considerable need to speed up action for the affected people. Nevertheless, attention needs to be given to‘building back better’ in order to ensure the energy effi­ciency of the reconstructed buildings. PROSUMERS As Croatia’s only coal mines closed decades ago, only mod­est efforts to ensure a just transition for the community af­fected by the closure of the Plomin coal plant are needed, compared to other countries in the region. However Croatia also produces oil and gas and more efforts will need to be put in there. So far it seems that little thought has been put into ensuring a bottom-up and participatory process for de­ciding on the future of the affected regions. HOUSEHOLDS AS ENERGY CONSUMERS AND TAXPAYERS Croatia has suffered from the regional trend of building poorly-planned small hydropower plants incentivised by en­ergy consumers’ money, but to a lesser extent than some of its neighbours. However, public acceptance of its renewa­bles incentives schemes – and thus energy transition as a whole – is threatened by environmental and corruption scandals such as those around the Krš-Pa đ ene wind farm. 163 As an EU Member State, Croatia has had to switch to an auctions-based incentives system for larger installations, which should help keep costs down for consumers once the current feed-in tariff contracts come to an end, but the po­tential for a backlash still exists if renewable energy plants continue to be subject to such scandals. 161 European Commission, Europe 2020 targets: statistics and indicators for Croatia, accessed 19 November 2021. 162 Government of the Republic of Croatia,‘Croatia will reduce CO 2 emissions by 45% by 2030, our coal phase-out year is 2033’, 2 No­vember 2021. 163 Igor Todorovi ć ,‘High-profile arrests in Croatia highlight claims of corruption in renewables in region’, Balkan Green Energy News, 5 June, 2020. By the end of 2020, 851 households were participating in net metering, compared to only 146 in 2019, showing the importance of legislative changes. Six hundred and for­ty-four commercial producers were also producing for self-consumption, compared to 427 in 2019. 166 Some collective initiatives are underway – for example, the town of Križevci hosts a first small communal solar power plant of 30 kWh, financed by a group of citizens and assist­ed by the Green Energy Cooperative(ZEZ). 167 The town’s De­velopment Centre uses the electricity produced while the state electricity utility buys off the surplus. 168 Nevertheless, Croatia is still very early in its prosumer development com­pared to its massive potential. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN DECISION-MAKING ON ENERGY POLICY AND INFRASTRUCTURE Croatia made significant improvements in legally-stipulat­ed public participation in the years leading up to its EU membership but still suffers from a number deficiencies in common with its regional neighbours, for example the persistence of decades-old projects which have not been properly reviewed for their suitability for today’s circum­164 European Commission, Energy Poverty Advisory Hub, Indicators, ­accessed 8 December 2021. 165 Government of the Republic of Croatia,‘Plenkovi ć u Saboru: U ova burna vremena Vlada predano i angažirano radi u interesu hrvatskih gra đ ana’, 27 October 2021. 166 Minea Skok, Incentives and challenges in promoting self-consump­tion Case of Croatia, Hrvoje Požar Energy Institute, 2 June 2021. 167 Zelena Energetska Zadruga, accessed 8 December 2021. 168 Balkan Green Energy News,‘Democratization of energy on rise in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina’, 31 August 2021. 32