A significant variability and increase in daily consumption and peak load are observed in Croatia in July, due to unpredictable weather conditions and the amplified impact of the tourist season, according to a report published by the Croatian Association of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. The electricity system lacks sufficient production capacity to meet the consumption during the summer months. Due to the increase in consumption, Croatia was forced to import electricity in July.
Because of extremely high temperatures in the first half of the month, Croatia consumed enormous amounts of electricity for cooling. On 17 July, an all-time record hourly consumption was recorded – 3,167 MWh.
A notably high production from hydropower plants was achieved, especially from water inflow and reservoir discharge in pump-storage power plants. Gas-fired power plants achieved significant production during July due to reduced water inflow for hydropower plants.
To balance the network, significant amounts of electricity imports were necessary, amounting to a total of 265 GWh, with the maximum hourly import reaching 1,451 MWh/h.
The nuclear power plant Krsko operated at a power output 1.4% lower than nominal. Wind farms achieved below-average production, while solar power plants registered a high level of production mainly due to the increasing number of newly installed capacities.
Pump-storage HPP Velebit was out of operation for the entire month, and due to the large water reserves in the reservoirs, the system had enough flexibility for network services and balancing on the production side.
