The northern Adriatic archipelago that includes the Croatian islands of Cres, Losinj, Susak, Ilovik, and Unije, has been selected as the site for a pioneer EU-funded energy transition pilot project, one of the first three such sites across the European Union, the office of the Croatian MEP, Tonino Picula, reported on Wednesday.

The Croatian archipelago, along with Sifnos, an island in the Cyclades in Greece, and the Aran Islands in Ireland, have been selected from over 2,000 island communities in the European Union for a programme offering professional and technical support for making islands less dependent on importing fossil fuels by developing sustainable locally based energy sources.

Over the next 18 months, the European Union plans to support 26 island communities across Europe in the development of plans and projects for energy transition, according to a press release issued jointly by the European Commission and the Secretariat of Clean EU Islands.

The secretariat, which launched in June this year, was initially given €2 million in funding, and is the first EU body tasked with supporting island communities.

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