With EU financial support, five small companies from the Croatian fisheries and aquaculture sector have installed rooftop solar power plants with a combined capacity of around 2 MW, the agriculture ministry told Montel last week.

These investments in renewable energy by the Omega 3, Marikomerc, Zuvela, Arbacommerce and Meduza companies total HRK 20m (EUR 2.7m) and have been co-financed from the operational programme for maritime affairs and fisheries, says the agriculture ministry in its e-mailed statement.

The first company in this sector to install a solar power plant was the Omega 3 cooperative from the island of Ugljan, which catches and processes sardines and anchovies.

The cooperative installed a 499 kW solar power plant on the roof of its logistics and production centre in the Sopot industrial zone near the coastal city of Zadar and now can cover half of that facility’s energy needs by this means, according to the local news portal Kali Online.

The Marikomerc fish processing and distribution company is constructing a 440 kW rooftop solar power plant on its manufacturing and warehouse facility in the Grabi business zone in Zadar County. It should be operational in June, the company’s technical director Vice Katacic told Montel in an e-mailed statement.

When asked how Marikomerc would respond to electricity price hikes, Katacic said, “With regard to the high electricity prices on the market, we will consider increasing our solar capacity.”

Meanwhile, the Croatian agriculture ministry has announced that HRK 400m in subsidies will be available for the fisheries and aquaculture sector in the 2021-2027 period. The first tenders for these subsidies will be posted in Q3 2022 and they are expected to focus on the adoption of renewable energy sources.

(EUR 1 = HRK 7.52)