The European Commission has allocated €19.8 million in the form of state aid for a number of projects for grid-scale energy storage. The subsidy was awarded to the company IE-Energy from Rijeka. This amount will cover about 30 percent of the costs for the series of battery systems planned for construction around the city of Šibenik.

The systems have the task of stabilizing the power grid, i.e. maintaining the balance between production and consumption. The European Commission concluded that the mentioned project is in accordance with the Guidelines on State aid for climate, environmental protection and energy, and that the aid is necessary to address the current market failures, given the fact that in Croatia there were no incentives for balancing services at the power grid level.

This project is extremely important because it will contribute to the modernization of the grid and increase the security of energy supply, for both Croatia and the EU. IE-Energy will build the first battery system near Šibenik, with a capacity of 100 MWh and 50 MW of power. The first phase of the project, with a power of 10 MW and a capacity of 22 MWh, should be completed during the first quarter of 2023. The full capacity will be upgraded by 2024, and the total investment will amount to around 70 million euros. Network stabilization services will be consumed by the Croatian Transmission System Operator (HOPS).