The European Union has disbursed almost three billion euros from the Modernisation Fund to support 39 energy projects in 10 member countries, including Croatia, the European Commission reported on Monday.

As part of the new tranche worth 2.967 billion euros, Croatia has received 52 million euros.

This is the largest payment to date from the Modernisation Fund, from which a total of 12.65 billion euros has been disbursed since January 2021. Croatia has received a total of 209.96 million euros so far.

The Modernisation Fund is a financial instrument established by the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Directive for the period from 2021 to 2030 and aims to achieve climate neutrality.

In Croatia, these funds will be used to improve energy efficiency

The Modernisation Fund is a European Union programme that supports 13 member countries in achieving their energy targets by helping them to modernise their energy systems and improve energy efficiency.

The funds were made available to Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, with Croatia receiving 3.14% of these funds. In January this year, three more countries were added to the list of countries eligible for these funds – Greece, Portugal and Slovenia.

The Modernisation Fund supports investments in energy production from renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, energy storage, the modernisation of energy networks, including central heating, pipelines and grids, and a just transition in carbon-dependent regions.

The fund complements other EU instruments such as the Cohesion Fund and the Just Transition Fund.

In Croatia, these funds will be used to develop photovoltaic and energy storage capacities for public service providers in the water supply sector.

The project to improve energy efficiency and the generation of electricity from renewable sources in the production facilities in Dilj, the improvement of energy efficiency and investments in high-efficiency cogeneration in the manufacturing industry and the like will also be financed.