They also introduce the term agrivoltaics to Croatian legislation for the first time, enabling development of solar plants on agricultural land.

The amendments allow the construction of solar power plants on man-made lakes, fishponds, waste disposal sites, mineral exploitation fields and abandoned mines, as well as existing infrastructure and water infrastructure sites, such as dams, reservoirs, pumping stations, canals and tunnels. They also remove power limitations for areas already designated in spatial plans for solar installations.

The renewable energy sources association within the Croatian chamber of commerce (HGK) has welcomed the proposed amendments, which will now be sent to parliament for enactment.

Agrivoltaic limits

In a statement sent to Montel on Friday, the association said that these amendments would enable the significant development of solar power plants in economic zones, but also noted that the construction of agrivoltaic plants would only be allowed on land covered by permanent crops.

HGK sees this as an unnecessarily limiting factor and has proposed that all forms of agricultural activity be eligible for agrivoltaic installations.

“Agrivoltaic power plants can be very successful in combination with livestock farming, and in combination with the cultivation of annual crops with a regular crop rotation, which has proven to be successful in many countries,” Ivan Strunje from the Croatian subsidiary of the French company Neoen, which is a member of the chamber of commerce’s renewables association, told Montel.