EU approves Croatian government subsidy for new LNG terminal

The European Commission has approved Croatian government plans to fund the construction and operation of a floating LNG terminal at Krk island, in the northern Adriatic Sea, reports Keith Nuthall. The European Union (EU) executive said a direct €100mn subsidy from the Croatian government complied with EU state aid rules.

It gave the same verdict to a planned ‘security of supply fee’ which will enable Plinacro, the Croatian gas transmission operator, to raise additional levies to cover the terminal’s costs, in case they exceed operating revenues.

The terminal is designed to transport up to 2.6bn cm/y of natural gas into Croatia, from 2021.

The EU’s Connecting Europe Facility is also supporting the project, with an additional €101.4mn.