EU approves €20 million state aid to energy storage company in Croatia

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

The European Commission has approved €19.8 million (US$20.1 million) in state aid from the government of Croatia to energy storage operator IE-Energy for a series of grid-connected projects.

The aid will be a direct grant to IE-Energy and will cover approximately 30% of capital expenditures for a series of grid-scale battery energy storage systems.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The systems will be installed on the Croatian grid to help the transmission system operator (TSO) HOPS (Hrvatski operator prijenosnog sustava) balance supply and demand and to store energy for when needed.

The Commission, the executive arm of the EU, concluded that the aid was necessary and appropriate to address an existing market failure, citing a lack of incentives to provide balancing services to TSOs with grid-scale energy storage facilities.

A press release did not outline how many energy storage projects are being planned by IE-Energy or HOPS. A 2021-2030 transmission network development plan from the latter, dated January 2021, mentions one large project which is being assessed for a 2024 connection date.

The ‘VE Brda Umovi Battery Storage System’ is a proposed co-located 127MW wind farm with a 50MW battery system, with a grid connection of 163.5MW.

Croatia is also participating in a trial project, SINRO.GRID, with neighbour Slovenia to see how a 50MWh battery system in Slovenia can help the two countries collaborate to help grid flexibility in both.

The approval for IE-Energy’s funding comes a week after the Commission approved a much larger amount from the Greek government, €341 million, to fund the development of a 900MW pipeline of grid-connected battery storage to be procured through a competitive tender.

IE-Energy is based in Rijeka and was founded in 2020 with, in its own words, a mission to create a new type of flexible and decentralised energy power provider, or aggregator, in the electricity market. It also wants to allow small and medium power producers (prosumers) and consumers to participate directly in energy markets.

11 November 2025
San Diego, USA
The 2024 Summit included innovative new features including a ‘Crash Course in Battery Asset Management’, Ask-Me-Anything formats and debate-style sessions. You can expect to meet and network with all the key industry players again in 2025 from major US asset owners, operators, RTOs and ISOs, optimizers, software and analytics providers, technical consultancies, O&M technology providers and more.

Read Next

July 25, 2025
Estuary Power has commenced operations of the 185MW solar, 400MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) Escape project in Lincoln County, Nevada, US.
July 25, 2025
Google has partnered with and made a strategic investment in carbon dioxide-based long-duration energy storage (LDES) company Energy Dome.
July 25, 2025
Australia-based battery energy storage system (BESS) developer, owner and operator Stor-Energy has announced plans to build a 1,449MWh 10-hour duration BESS.
July 24, 2025
CEA has recently released two battery energy storage system (BESS) reports for Q2 2025, the Energy Storage System Price Forecasting Report and the ESS Supply, Technology, and Policy Report.
July 24, 2025
Fluence will provide its Mosaic software for a 200MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Victoria, Australia.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter