Increased geothermal energy production capacity

Source of funding: European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2014-2021

Programme: Energy and Climate Change

Status:  Open from 29^th November 2021 to 28^th January 2022 at 12:00h CET

Type of call: Open Call for Project Proposals/ temporary

Competent authority: Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds

Call allocation: 4.956.000,00 EUR

Grant amount per project:  200.000,00 – 1.300.000,00  EUR

Project grant rate: up to 85%

Project duration: 12 – 24 months

The eligible applicants: any entity, public or private, commercial, or non-commercial and non-governmental organization, established as a legal person in Croatia.

The eligible partners: any public or private entity, commercial or non-commercial, and a non-governmental organization established as a legal person in donor states (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) or Croatia.

Eligible area: the selected projects will be implemented in the continental area of the Republic of Croatia, i.e. the Pannonian and Northern Croatia, as per the relevant NUTS 2 classification. Additionally, bilateral cooperation activities can be implemented on the territory of Donor States.

Summary

The Republic of Croatia has very favourable conditions for the usage of renewable energy sources due to its geographic position, geological setting and climate. Within the Republic of Croatia, the geothermal potential was indicated by more than 25 natural thermal springs and proved by more than 4,000 deep wells drilled during oil and gas explorations undertaken in the second part of the 20^th century.

Regarding the geological properties and geothermal potential, Croatia can be generally divided into two areas: the Pannonian basin and the Dinarides. Most geothermal resources in Croatia have a temperature ranging between 50-120°C, which allows the utilization of geothermal energy for heating purposes. The transport of thermal energy over longer distances is expensive and can at present not be economically justified, which means that utilization of geothermal energy is only feasible in the relative vicinity of the geothermal energy sources.

The Call supports applications that are planning to implement the pilot projects for increasing the capacities for production and usage of heat produced from geothermal energy, including the activities such as:

• Construction or refurbishment of production and injection wells in areas with existing exploration or production licenses;
• Refurbishment and/or extension of an existing geothermal heating system;
• Construction of infrastructure connection(s) to integrate geothermal heat into an existing district heating system;
• Technological and infrastructure changes to existing district heating systems to integrate geothermal energy source(s).

This Call for Proposals refers to the Programme focus area: “Renewable Energy”. The projects are also expected to contribute to the reduction of CO₂ emissions and increased security of supply.

THE FUNDING DECISION

The Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, in the role of the Programme Operator, upon the completion of projects` assessment and selection within the Open Call for Project Proposals “Increased geothermal energy production capacity”, a total value of 4.956.000,00 EUR, on 20th April 2022 adopted the Funding Decision. Following the Funding Decision, the Project Contracts will be concluded with the selected Applicants.

The Funding Decision may be found at the following link.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

• Project proposals (Application forms and supporting documents) will be filled in and submitted through the customized online application system. Access to the system will be provided through a link that will be available on the Programme website on 10^th January 2022. In the meantime, the Applicants can use the offline Application form and other documents to prepare their project proposals.
• All questions related to the Call shall be sent to the e-mail address energija@mrrfeu.hr, with a clear reference to the Call. The answers will be published on the Programme website no later than seven (7) calendar days before the deadline for submission of project proposals.

ONLINE APPLICATION SYSTEM LAUNCHED

The online application system is open for the submission of applications from 10^th to 28^th January  2022 at 12:00h CET.

Access to the online application system is ensured via link https://ekp.mrrfeu.hr/.

DOCUMENTS AND FORMS

1. Applicant’s/Partner’s Declaration (Form 1)
2. Communication Plan (Form 2)
3. Partnership Statement (Form 3)
4. De minimis Aid Declaration (Form 4)
5. Declaration on the category of an enterprise (Form 5)
6. Declaration on the legal status of real estate to be affected by the project infrastructural activities (Form 6)

1. Draft of the Project Contract (for budgetary and non-budgetary entities)
2. Draft of the Partnership Agreement
3. Administrative and eligibility compliance Assessment Form
4. Quality Assessment Form
5. State Aid Scheme for the Implementation of the Programme “Energy and Climate Change”
6. De minimis Scheme for the Implementation of the Programme “Energy and Climate Change”