How a battery earns in Croatia

Croatia's grid is run by HOPS (Hrvatski operator prijenosnog sustava), and it is under strain — roughly 60 renewable projects totalling 3.5 GW sit stalled in the connection queue, and the government is now studying whether batteries can relieve congestion instead of new transmission lines. Renewables already covered 52.6% of electricity in 2025 (hydro, wind and solar), so day-ahead prices swing hard between sunny midday troughs and evening peaks: the 30-day spread averaged €161/MWh, or 138% of the average price — the raw arbitrage a battery captures by charging low and discharging high. Support is real and generous: Croatia is channelling about €500 million of NRRP money into storage, including a €50 million public call for standalone business batteries (min. 1 MWh, grants €60,000—€1.5 million), plus Modernisation-Fund grants such as the €19.8 million for the 60 MW / 120 MWh BESS Šibenik. On tariffs, HERA's nationwide unit charges (from 1 May 2026) let a co-located battery on a separate metering point pay only its actual connection cost with no system-cost charge, while HOPS opens its aFRR balancing market for extra revenue stacking.

€161/MWh

30-day day-ahead spread — 138% of the average price (30 days)

52.6%

renewables share of Croatian electricity in 2025 (hydro + wind + solar)

€500M NRRP

national storage subsidy pot; incl. €50M call for standalone business batteries (min. 1 MWh)