Bavaria and Croatia are calling for more speed in the energy pipeline project

Bavaria and Croatia want to speed up together and put pressure on the European Union to advance the plan for gas and hydrogen pipelines from the island of Krk north to the Free State faster than before. Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković made this clear after a meeting in the Croatian capital Zagreb.

There needs to be more speed in Europe and clear right-of-way for energy, said Söder. The planning processes need to be significantly accelerated - Bavaria will push for this in Berlin and Brussels. “We have to make this project an urgent project.” Plenković announced further talks with Slovenia and Austria. When asked when the project could become a reality, he said they hoped within two years.

Plans to bring energy from the south through Slovenia and Austria to Bavaria via a pipeline have been around for years; However, things are obviously not progressing as quickly as once hoped. In 2022, Söder and the then Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer met Plenković in Krk and promoted the project.

There is a so-called LNG terminal in front of Krk, where liquid gas is restored to its original state and fed into the network. Croatia has long been covering its own natural gas needs - and wants to make the excess gas available to its neighboring countries. In the future, the terminal and the infrastructure should also be able to be adapted for the use of liquid hydrogen from renewable energies.

Plenković reported that Croatia has already increased the capacity of the LNG terminal on Krk from 2.9 to 6.1 billion cubic meters per year, more than doubling it. The company's own needs are 2.7 billion cubic meters.

“The rest is available,” said the Prime Minister. The aim is to be able to contribute to energy security in neighboring countries via the pipeline.

The three partners said in a joint statement in 2022 that they wanted to support each other “in strengthening energy security, diversifying energy sources and securing security of supply with natural natural gas and hydrogen.” “A hub for the European energy supply of the future” should therefore be created on Krk. “Our goal is above all to bring green hydrogen to Bavaria in the long term,” Söder said at the time.