Financing Decarbonisation of District Heating in Croatia

Decarbonising Croatia’s district heating (DH) networks faces challenges including limited funding, regulated heat prices, and complex ownership structures. Many systems are publicly or state‑owned, from city-managed gas grids to nationally operated DH networks, which can slow investment and create conflicts of interest. Integration of waste‑heat resources is also complicated by mismatched timelines between DH upgrades and the availability of sources like wastewater treatment facilities.

The HeatMineDH project addresses these barriers by developing detailed feasibility studies and investment plans to integrate low‑grade renewable and waste heat into existing DH networks.

With the project nearing completion, we are excited to share our results and explore pathways for the next steps in Croatia’s energy transition.

To get the discussion started, we will hear from: 

• Dr Tomislav Novosel, Senior Expert at IEECP Institute for European Energy and Climate Policy Foundation, will provide a general introduction of district heating in Croatia.
• Vatroslav Jukić, Director of Heat Energy at Energo, will introduce the Rijeka network. 
• Ivan Krajnović, CEO at TEHNOSTAN d.o.o., will introduce the Vukovar network.
• Daniele Anania, Researcher at EURAC Research ,will present the results from their analysis of the Vukovar case. 
• Inoslav Latkovic, CTO at Gradska toplana,  introducing the Karlovac network.
• Lukas Grünberger, Project Manager R&D at SOLID, will present the results from their analysis of the Karlovac case. 
• Elise Heath, from Kyotherm will provide an investor's perspective to the discussion. 

This session will be co-moderated by Josip Miškić, Project Assistant at University of Zagreb, and Emilia Pisani, Communication and Project manager at RISE.