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April 13, 2025
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Croatia among EU’s top three emitters of methane from oil, gas industry

Croatia is one of the three European Union member countries with the highest methane emissions from the oil and natural gas industry, according to research by Greenpeace Croatia and the Clean Air Task Force (CATF). Greenpeace Croatia noted that methane has 84 times greater global warming potential than carbon dioxide on a 20-year timescale.

Methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure in Croatia have been comprehensively analyzed for the first time, according to Greenpeace Croatia.

“Methane hunter” Théophile Humann-Guilleminot from the international climate organization Clean Air Task Force (CATF) has examined more than 500 locations all around the world. He also recently visited 27 locations in Croatia, measuring methane emissions at all but one of them.

Greenpeace stressed it is an astonishing 96% of the investigated sites and the highest score by CATF in any EU member state.

Emissions were documented in detail by CATF at each site

The two organizations have visited several locations in Croatia with facilities for the production, transportation, and storage of oil and gas. The infrastructure is owned or operated by INA, Plinacro, and Okoli Underground Storage.

At 26 locations, methane emissions were documented in the form of gas release, venting, and flaring, which could also harm human health, Greenpeace underlined.

CATF carefully documented emissions at each location using infrared (IR) videos and IR and digital photos. The collected evidence is part of the group’s Cut Methane campaign in Europe and the world.

Humann-Guilleminot: Companies are releasing methane and accelerating climate change, all in pursuit of short-term profits

Théophile Humann-Guilleminot said the research strongly confirmed what scientists have been warning about for years – methane is leaking or being released along the entire oil and gas supply chain.

From the vast gas fields of Texas to Plinacro’s pipelines, companies are releasing methane and accelerating climate change, all in pursuit of short-term profits, he added. In his words, out of all the countries he visited, Croatia ranks amongst the worst three in terms of results.

“The scenes of methane gushing from open, rusted reservoirs in the Ivanić-Grad area, as well as leaks from wells at the Okoli location, are extremely worrying. During the energy crisis, this level of waste demonstrates a clear disregard for the climate and Croatian citizens,” Humann-Guilleminot stated.

Andrić: Greenpeace calls on the government to take seriously the implementation of new regulations on methane

Petra Andrić from Greenpeace Croatia pointed out the researchers could have assumed that methane emissions would be registered in some locations, but that they couldn’t have predicted such shocking results.

“Greenpeace is calling on the Government of the Republic of Croatia to take seriously the implementation of the new regulations on methane. In the long term, it is even more important to phase out fossil gas by 2035 and ban new gas and other fossil projects. The solutions are energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, in which Croatia has enormous potential, especially solar and wind,” she stressed.

Eszter Mátyás from Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe said the new regulations would be much stricter for the operators in the fossil fuel industry. Therefore they will have to regularly carry out measurements and submit reports to regulatory bodies to prevent the release of methane from their infrastructure, she added.

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April 13, 2025
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Turkey discovers its hottest geothermal well to date

Turkey’s Sanko Holding has discovered the country’s hottest geothermal well with access to a geothermal source, with temperatures reaching 308 degrees Celsius, according to an announcement from JESDER, the Turkish association of geothermal power plant developers.

“After a difficult and determined search, we learned with great pride that the hottest geothermal production well […] in Turkey, which reached 308°C, has been successfully discovered,” reads a Facebook post by JESDER.

Describing the discovery as a landmark achievement highlighting a strategic position of geothermal energy among renewable energy sources, the association congratulated everyone involved on what it called a giant step for Turkey’s energy future.

The well is a giant step for Turkey’s energy future

A geothermal resource reaching 341 degrees Celsius, at a depth of 3,845 meters, had previously been discovered in Turkey, but it never reached the production stage, according to media reports. Geothermal resources are considered suitable for investment if their temperatures range between 140 and 370 degrees, the Yeni Akit news website writes.

The temperatures in geothermal sources that can generate electricity vary between 103 and 295 degrees. The ones below are usually utilized for thermal spa tourism or heating, the Turkish media outlet added.

Turkey ranks fourth in the world in geothermal power capacity

Turkey’s geothermal power capacity is equivalent to that of the European Union and Iceland combined, making it fourth in the world in the field. It reached 1.73 GW in 2024, or about 1.5% of its overall power capacity, Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Abdullah Tancan revealed.

According to JESDER, geothermal power plants accounted for 3.2% of electricity output in Turkey last year, providing 11.2 TWh out of a total of 350 TWh.

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April 11, 2025
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Ember: Warming’s 2024 share of global power demand rise was covered with fossil fuels

According to Ember’s new figures, renewable energy sources met almost three quarters of last year’s increase in the world’s electricity demand. Together with nuclear energy, they would have covered almost the entire jump if it wasn’t for the share attributed to the annual increase in temperatures. Looking at it the other way around, the need for additional cooling accounted for the overwhelming part of the rise in fossil fuel use, and at the same time the resulting additional emissions contributed to the acceleration of global warming.

The share of low-carbon sources rose to a historic 40.9% of global output in 2024. Photovoltaics made up 55.2% of renewable electricity production growth. Hungary, Greece and Bulgaria are among the world’s strongest solar power producers while Turkey has one of the highest power demand growth rates.

Taken together, wind and solar power, hydroelectric plants, other renewables and nuclear energy amounted to 40.9% of global electricity generation in 2024. One year earlier, the level was 39.4%. Last year’s share was the highest since the 1940s, when the global electricity system was fifty times smaller, Ember said in its Global Electricity Review 2025. 

At the time, there was only hydropower and some biomass on the list. Solar power has been the main factor of change over the past several years, and so has China.

Global electricity demand jumped 4% last year or 1.17 PWh, amplified by heatwaves, and reached an all-time high of 30.9 PWh. Periods of higher temperatures in another hottest year ever drove up demand for cooling. The relative increase in 2023 was 2.6%.

Hydropower remained the largest source of low-carbon electricity (14.3%), followed by nuclear (9%). Wind (8.1%) and photovoltaics (6.9%)  are rapidly gaining ground and together they overtook hydro in 2024, while nuclear’s share reached a 45-year low.

Renewables meet 73.2% of growth in world power demand

Renewable power sources accounted for 858 TWh of added output. The previous record of 577 TWh was set two years earlier, as hydropower dropped in 2023, also mostly because of heat.

EVs, heat pumps, data centers and other new drivers of power demand more than doubled their share in annual growth in five years

Renewables met 73.2% of growth in demand and nuclear energy covered 5.9%. Together, they nearly accounted for all growth except the temperature effects, and the rest was from fossil fuels.

Interestingly, looking at it the other way around, the need for additional cooling accounted for the overwhelming part of the rise in fossil fuel use. Of course, the resulting additional emissions contributed to the acceleration of global warming.

Fossil fuel use would have remained almost unchanged if temperatures didn’t grow, the think tank claims. Global power sector emissions rose by 1.6% to a new all-time high of 14.6 billion tonnes of CO2.

But at least the demand for cooling during the day mostly runs in parallel to solar power production. Moreover, the pace of energy storage capacity increase still isn’t keeping up with the growing need to balance photovoltaics and wind power, as they depend on the weather.

However, the update focuses only on one indicator, within the annual growth in power demand. The system is much more complex and fossil fuels weren’t only and directly used for cooling. There is also the matter of distribution across segments from the entire output.

New drivers of demand such as electric vehicles, heat pumps and data centers contributed roughly the same to annual demand growth as the temperature effect, but more than twice as much as they did five years before.

China nearing one third of global electricity demand

China’s electricity demand surged 6.6% or by 623 TWh, which accounted for more than half of the global rise. Its 10.07 PWh in total was 32.6% of the overall figure. Five years before the country was at 28%. Renewables and nuclear energy covered 81% of its demand increase.

China’s per capita electricity use overtook France’s for the first time last year

The United States is number two overall, with 4.4 PWh in 2024 or 14.3% of the global level. China’s per capita electricity use overtook France’s for the first time, and was five times that of India’s.

Turkey’s growth rate, 5.6%, was among the highest on the planet. In absolute terms, demand jumped 18 TWh.

Photovoltaics beat coal power in 2024 in EU

Solar power production spiked by a stunning 29%, which was a six-year high, or by 474 TWh. Photovoltaics were the largest segment of new electricity for the third year in a row and grew the fastest for the 20th straight year. Total output reached 2.13 PWh.

Global solar power capacity reached 1 TW in 2022 after decades of growth, but it surpassed 2 TW only two years later. China amounted to 53% of the increase in PV generation in 2024.

Solar power topped coal power output in the European Union for the first time. As for the share of domestic production, Hungary tops the global list, with 25%. Chile is second at 22%, and Greece is third and best, with 22%, among the countries that Balkan Green Energy News mainly tracks.

Bulgaria is also in the main chart, coming in ninth on a global scale, with 14.4%.

As for solar power production per capita, Australia leads by far with 1.87 MWh, followed by the United Arab Emirates (1.29 MWh) and Greece, also at 1.29 MWh on a rounded basis. Hungary is seventh in the category, at 971 kWh per person.

In the rest of Southeastern Europe, Turkey sticks out as tenth on the planet in hydropower output, at 75 TWh. Albania has the fourth-highest share of domestic production, 97%.

Notably, Kosovo* tops the list of coal’s share in electricity production, with 92%. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia still seem pretty much stuck with the technology. They are fifth and sixth, respectively, both at 63% on a rounded basis.

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* This designation is without prejudice to positions onstatus and is in line with UNSCR 1244/99 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
April 11, 2025
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Delta Green launches platform in CEE for households to provide grid balancing

Czech energy startup Delta Green has launched a platform enabling households to provide grid balancing for transmission system operators. The company claims it is the first in Central and Eastern Europe and among the first in Europe to implement such a solution.

Delta Green said it just became the first in the CEE region to launch a platform that lets ordinary households help stabilize the energy grid, arguing it’s never been done before at this scale in the region.

The startup stressed the innovation comes at a critical time when European flexibility needs are projected to more than double, from 220 TWh in 2025 to 530 TWh by 2033, according to the latest projections by ENTSO-E.

Flexibility could bring benefits to consumers, and savings to grid operators, but also reduce electricity prices and grid investments.

The platform transforms ordinary households into active participants in the energy market

The platform transforms ordinary households into active participants in the energy market, allowing them to adjust electricity consumption or supply power in response to grid demands – a capability that directly addresses Europe’s growing flexibility challenges, the company underlined.

“A standard home solar system with battery storage can save up to EUR 40 per month. In Germany and France, where millions of homes have solar setups, 10% participation could offset the output of several power plants, reducing fossil fuel reliance and boosting grid resilience,” co-owner and Chief Product Officer of Delta Green Jan Hicl said.

Delta Green says its platform is the Airbnb of grid balancing

The company added its tech is already saving consumers money and reducing fossil fuel reliance. One can think of it as the Airbnb of grid balancing, Delta Green said.

The company is now working on expanding its services beyond the Czech Republic to both Western and Eastern Europe, for example the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland), Italy, and Romania.

Delta Green was established in 2008 as Nano Green under the Nano Energies group. It rebranded itself last year. The company is jointly owned by David Brožík, Prokop Čech, Lukáš Beneš, and Jan Hicl.

Demand-side flexibility could deliver over EUR 300 billion in benefits for European consumers

A recent study from the Smart Energy Europe Association (smartEn) demonstrates that demand-side flexibility could deliver over EUR 300 billion in benefits for European consumers by 2030. Grid flexibility from available assets, including household systems, could contribute a projected EUR 4 billion in annual savings for European grid operators.

According to the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), grid expansion and flexibility measures potentially could reduce electricity prices by 11% by 2035 and by 30% in 2040 in a net zero scenario.

The European Union needs EUR 584 billion in grid upgrades by 2030. Flexibility solutions, combined with grid optimization, could lower the much needed grid investments from an anticipated EUR 67 billion to EUR 55 billion annually between 2025 and 2050.

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April 11, 2025
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EUSEW 2025: Registration open for the European Sustainable Energy Week

Registration is now open for participation in the 19th edition of the European Sustainable Energy Week – EUSEW 2025, which will be held from June 10 to 12. Participants can register to attend the event in Brussels or join online.

EUSEW is the largest annual event dedicated to renewable energy and efficient energy use in Europe. It is organized by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) in cooperation with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy.

In order to ensure competitiveness and achieve clean energy goals, Europe must take concrete action. The rapid deployment of renewable energy sources and the implementation of energy efficiency measures will be key elements in supporting industry, the European Commission said. It added that Europe would need to respond to the challenges of energy price spikes and market instability, which affect both businesses and citizens.

In line with the challenges, the slogan of this year’s European Sustainable Energy Week is ‘Powering a fair and competitive green transition’.

The number of in-person seats is limited

This year, EUSEW will be held in a hybrid format, from June 10 to 12. The gatherings are in the European Commission’s Charlemagne building and the nearby Martin Hotel in Brussels. All sessions will be livestreamed via a dedicated online event platform.

As the number of in-person seats is limited, organizers are encouraging interested participants to register as soon as possible.

Photo: EUSEW

EUSEW 2025 features a variety of events. The high-level conference, with over 60 sessions, will feature prominent speakers exploring five main themes: competitiveness and investments in clean energy, energy affordability, renewables, energy efficiency, decarbonization, and international cooperation. The conference will be officially opened on June 10 by European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen.

Following the opening, the EUSEW Awards ceremony will take place. They recognize outstanding individual and collective achievements in the fields of energy efficiency and green energy and are presented in three categories: Innovation, Local Energy Action, and Women in Energy.

EUSEW will also offer opportunities for informal networking during the Energy Fair. Additionally, for the sixth year in a row, the European Youth Energy Day will be held. A group of 30 young energy ambassadors will organize their own sessions and side events, including workshops with energy experts.

Dozens of locally organized Sustainable Energy Days will also be held across the world before and after the main week of the event.

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April 10, 2025
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Court annuls environmental permits for EPBiH’s hydro projects Janjići, Vranduk

The Cantonal Court in Sarajevo overturned two decisions of the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism regarding the proposed Vranduk and Janjići hydropower plants.

The Janjići and Vranduk hydropower projects, with a total capacity of 36 MW, are being developed by state-owned power company Elektroprivreda BiH. The sites are on the Bosna river near the city of Zenica.

The two decisions were challenged by the Aarhus Centre in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Cantonal Court in Sarajevo has ruled that the 16 MW Janjići project requires a new environmental permit to move forward, news website Zenit.ba reported. Namely, the Aarhus Centre in BiH disputed the ministry’s decision in December 2021 that the existing one was valid. According to the court, the explanation was legally unsubstantiated.

The ministry didn’t take into account the ecological sensitivity of the Janjići area

The ministry also failed to acknowledge the complexity of the planned hydropower facility and that, in line with the regulations, a new permit is necessary if the deadline expires, the ruling reads.

According to the court, the ministry didn’t take into account the ecological sensitivity of the Janjići area. The location is a habitat of protected plant and animal species, among which is the otter.

Of note, in January 2022, Germany’s KfW Development Bank said it canceled the plan to finance the Janjići hydropower project with EUR 30 million. Total investment was valued at EUR 55 million.

The loan agreement between KfW and EPBiH was signed in 2014. Environmental organizations opposed the project, arguing it would flood one of the most beautiful areas around the Bosna river.

The Aarhus Convention was violated in the case of HPP Vranduk

The court also annulled the ministry’s 2023 environmental permit for the HPP Vranduk project of 20 MW.

The ministry violated several provisions of an environmental protection law of the Federation of BiH, the court stressed. By issuing the permit, it violated the right of the public to access information and participate in the decision-making process, thereby also violating the Aarhus Convention.

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) was inadequate while the environmental risks determined earlier and comments from experts weren’t taken into account, the ruling reads.

In early 2022, Austria-based Strabag won at the International Court of Arbitration in Brussels in a case against EPBiH. The panel ordered the power utility to pay EUR 16.4 million to the company.

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