The Croatian Government established by-laws for the Spatial Planning Act that define agricultural photovoltaic installations and the areas in which such equipment can be deployed, thus facilitating future deployment.
The Croatian government has now adopted a legal framework for agricultural PV deployment that aims to speed up the approval process for these PV installations.
Maja Pokrovac, president of the Croatian Association for Renewable Energy Sources (RES Croatia), told PV Magazine that "the newly adopted legislation gives a big green light that could lead to faster approvals for agricultural PV than for regular PV installations."
Pokrovac says there is great interest from investors, but also a strong resistance. As a result, the Croatian Renewable Energy Association is organising a large number of seminars, roundtables and consultations to inform the public about the benefits of agricultural PV.
"As farmers become more aware of the potential of agricultural PV to optimise yields and reduce electricity bills, their views will change," Pokrovac said. "Our association will share more detailed and extensive data on agricultural PV in Croatia in a new study, which will be released in September. The study was conducted by leading Croatian experts and funded by EBRD."
Under the new rules, agricultural PV can be installed in locations defined as farmland areas, abandoned plots, and permanent plantations, including vineyards and olive groves. The new law allows each farmer to install agricultural PV installations on his or her own land.
"Our analyses found that Croatia has a very balanced distribution of agricultural PV potential. In Slavonia, for example, the potential for such installations, as well as with grid availability, is also very high," Pokrovac said.
According to the association's data, Croatia has the potential to develop 3GW of agricultural PV projects.
"We are receiving new information from the Ministry of Agriculture that interest in agricultural PV is growing," Pokrovac said. "From this year alone, there are many large developments and projects at least in the 10MW class under construction. This will greatly expand Croatia's solar resource portfolio."
Croatia is currently developing a number of utility-scale projects, including the largest 3MW and 10MW installations, and these may become the first solar arrays supported by a power purchase agreement in Croatia.
Hydroelectricity accounts for about half of Croatia's electricity generation, with wind power accounting for about 14 per cent. At the end of last year, solar accounted for 0.5 per cent of Croatia's energy mix at around 224 MW. however, at the end of June solar capacity stood at 306 MW, or 2 per cent, according to Croatian distribution system operator HEP ODS.