Strategic Energy Dialogue

Zagreb, 27 March, 2026 – Boštjan Napast, President of the Management Board of the ENNA Group, participated in the Energy Summit conference organized by Poslovni dnevnik. The conference was held on Friday, 27 March 2026, in Zagreb and brought together representatives of leading Croatian energy companies, state institutions, and numerous interested experts from the energy sector.

Mr. Napast, President of the Management Board of the ENNA Group, took part in the panel titled “CEO Talk: They Decide on Energy Stability”. Alongside him, the panelists were Gordan Kolak, President of the Management Board of Končar – Elektroindustrija, Ante Mandić, President of the Management Board of Petrol Hrvatska, and Zsuzsanna Ortutay, President of the Management Board of INA.

In the introductory part, all participants agreed that the war in the Middle East has strongly affected the markets of traditional energy sources, oil and gas. Mr. Napast pointed out that in recent years crises have followed one another, and that energy is much more than an economic issue; it has become an element of global politics of the world’s superpowers through which the competitiveness of economies is secured.

“Europe recognized this relatively late, while the United States and China strategically developed it much earlier. Because of that, today Europe faces both an energy and a defense challenge. I hope that there will be a growing awareness of how important energy is for Europe and its economy,” said Mr. Napast. In this context, he also highlighted the paradigm shift towards strengthening local production and the resilience of the energy system. He warned that predictability in the energy sector has significantly decreased and that the sector must adapt to the new circumstances.

“Demand for electricity is continuously growing, further driven by digitalization and the development of technologies such as artificial intelligence and data centers,” he emphasized, adding that the grid is currently one of the key bottlenecks for further development, as significant investments in electricity infrastructure are required. As an important element of flexibility, he highlighted battery energy storage systems, especially when infrastructure cannot keep up with the pace of change.

“Production gives us volume, but what the system actually needs is flexibility, which means that in the short term, fewer investments in the grid are required. This is where battery systems play a key role, as they enable us to actually use the energy we produce when we need it,” stated the President of the Management Board of the ENNA Group. However, he also warned that there are regulatory challenges that slow down projects.

“We are currently developing a solar power plant project in Romania with approximately 80 MW capacity and 140 MWh of battery storage. When we decided to build the battery not only for optimizing the power plant but also for providing ancillary services to the grid, the time from initiating the procedure to obtaining the connection contract was only a month and a half. As far as we know, in Croatia the first such project has only now been implemented and connected to the grid after five or six years,” said Mr. Napast. He added that the obstacles are primarily related to regulation, as well as location and construction procedures.

Nevertheless, he emphasized that there is significant development potential, particularly in renewable energy sources. He also singled out two major geothermal power plant projects being developed by the ENNA Group near Slatina and in Babina Greda.

“Croatia has great potential, and we believe that local production should be encouraged. We are convinced that the price of energy independence and security will be increasingly recognized, but this requires appropriate support from the state,” said Mr. Napast, particularly highlighting the importance of a stable and predictable regulatory framework for the realization of investments.

Read more about the Energy Summit at poslovni.hr.poslovni.hr .

Photo: Sandra Šimunović/PIXSELL.