Croatia's regulator says the battery rulebook follows a new power law this autumn, with better terms from early 2027
At a 6 July round table at the Croatian Chamber of Economy, HERA, ministries, HEP ODS and HROTE named the open questions for battery storage. Near the top: how grid fees are charged to standalone batteries. Power market law changes are expected in autumn, then rules from early 2027.
A factory manager asking whether a big battery makes sense in Croatia gets a fair answer this summer: maybe, but parts of the rulebook are still being written.
HERA, the Croatian energy regulator, reported on 8 July 2026 on a round table held two days earlier at the Croatian Chamber of Economy (HGK). The theme was battery storage in Croatia, from challenges to solutions. HERA, the relevant ministries, distributor HEP ODS, market operator HROTE and industry players took part.
The topics: spatial planning conditions, energy approvals, grid connection terms, network charges and the legal status of storage. HERA singles out one item as among the most urgent: a clear method for charging grid fees to standalone batteries that buy and sell power for profit. Grid fees are one of the biggest running costs for such plants, so investors want that number before they commit.
Participants said changes to the electricity market law, expected to take effect in autumn 2026, open the way to a full framework for batteries. HERA rules and grid-operator acts come after that, aimed at better conditions for battery projects from the start of 2027.
Balkan Green Energy News, reporting the same event on 14 July, quoted the chamber: battery capacity in Croatia stood at 11 MW in March, while energy approvals had been issued or requested for projects totalling nearly 1,100 MW.
Analogy: it is a new car park where the gates are built but the prices are not on the sign yet. You can drive in. You cannot yet work out what a month will cost.
Good: the regulator named the gap, grid fees for standalone batteries, and put a timeline on the fix. That is more useful to a board paper than a vague promise of rules soon.
Bad: this is mostly a standalone-battery story. A battery beside a company's own solar, used only to shift its own power, sits on a different connection path. No fee level was published, and early 2027 is an aim, not a date in law.
Ugly: nearly 1,100 MW of approvals against 11 MW in service is a queue, not a fleet. Until the fee method is set, nobody can honestly quote the running cost of a grid-charging battery in Croatia.
Source: HERA, 8 Jul 2026 - round table on battery storage at HGK; Energetika-net, 9 Jul 2026 - new power market law opens the way for batteries; Balkan Green Energy News, 14 Jul 2026 - Croatia is finalizing regulatory framework for batteries.