TRIESTE – Croatia has inaugurated the new Zabok-Lučko main gas pipeline, an €80 million investment designed to significantly increase gas flows towards Slovenia and strengthen energy security across the region through greater use of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the island of Krk.
The completion ceremony was held in Zabok in the presence of Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the president of Plinacro’s management board, Ivica Arar. The new connection is considered one of the most important and complex energy projects carried out in recent years within Croatia’s gas transmission system.
According to Arar, the new infrastructure increases the operational flexibility of the network and makes it possible to raise gas transport towards Slovenia from the current 260 million to 876 million cubic metres per year.
The project is part of the “Supporting infrastructure for the LNG terminal strategic investment project”. Two other strategic gas pipelines are also at an advanced stage of construction and, once completed, export capacity towards Slovenia will rise to 1.5 billion cubic metres per year, while capacity towards Hungary will reach 3.5 billion cubic metres. The new connections will make it possible to fully exploit the capacity of the Krk LNG terminal and consolidate Croatia’s role in Central European energy flows.
In his speech, Prime Minister Plenković recalled that Croatia, like other Central European countries, was heavily dependent on Russian gas. The construction of the Krk LNG terminal and the related infrastructure has instead created the conditions for greater energy independence. Plenković stressed that the expansion of the transmission network was essential to make full use of the terminal’s potential and transform Croatia into a regional energy hub. He also recalled that, through the REPowerEU programme, Plinacro has been allocated a total of €530 million to upgrade national gas infrastructure.
