Croatia will have enough gas for all consumers during the heating season, even in the event of a crisis in Europe if Russia suspends the supply, participants in the 6th International Energy Forum said in the Adriatic city of Split on Friday.

The forum focused on the energy transition and green cities of the Mediterranean. It was organised by the Institute for European and Globalization Studies.

Croatia has a developed gas infrastructure and is getting sufficient gas quantities via the LNG terminal on Krk island, and it also has domestic production, said Kristina Celic, head of the energy department at the Economy Ministry.

She said sufficient quantities of electricity and heating energy would be ensured for the coming winter and that energy prices in Croatia would not be “out of control” because the government has adopted a set of measures to curb their growth.

Celic said electricity prices for households, businesses and industry would not change before 31 March.

The forum’s director, Andjelko Milardovic, said Croatia did not depend on Russian gas and was therefore in a better position than Germany and some other central European countries.

The energy situation in Europe is becoming more complex as the war in Ukraine continues and there is a danger that the energy crisis will deepen due to reductions in Russian gas supplies, he warned, adding that, if Russia stops the supply, Europe would first experience economic problems, and then social and political ones.

Darija Karasahilovic of the Zagreb Faculty of Mining, Geology, and Petroleum Engineering said climate change affected Croatia, notably floods, and that the energy transition must help to prevent such events.

She said Croatia was not producing hydrogen and that the infrastructure would have to be adapted to switch to hydrogen production so that its share in energy consumption could reach 15% by 2050.