Citizen Energy in Croatia: An Interview with Melani Furlan (ZEZ) on Community-Driven Innovation in DIGITISE

Today, we are talking with Melani Furlan, a Community Energy and Solar Design Engineer at ZEZ, to learn more about the Croatian demonstration site for the DIGITISE project. With seven years of experience at ZEZ, Melani has been actively driving social and technological innovation to support locally produced and community-managed renewable energy systems. In this interview, she shares insights into how the Croatian demo site contributes to DIGITISE’s mission, highlighting its role in empowering communities, enhancing energy efficiency, and integrating smart digital technologies into local energy networks.

Q: Can you tell us more about your organisation and its expertise? What role does your company play in DIGITISE? 

MF: Zelena energetska zadruga (ZEZ) is an energy cooperative situated in Zagreb, Croatia. We have been dedicated to promoting and developing community energy ever since we started 11 years ago and we do this in three basic ways: First, we help citizens to set up their solar power plants in their homes. Second, we open space for citizens to become co-owners in solar power plants that are on public buildings or public areas. Thirdly, through advocacy and numerous educational activities, we strive to make the legal framework as simple and as favorable as possible for citizen energy and energy communities. 

On the Croatian market, we have a nonprofit service offering turnkey solutions for solar PV systems. Our key customers are part of our community, namely homeowners looking to cut their electricity bills through sustainable investment in solar PV for self-consumption.  

Q: Can you introduce the team working on the DIGITISE project at your pilot site?  

MF: The ZEZ team working on the DIGITISE project brings together a diverse range of expertise, encompassing economics, sociology, and engineering. Leading the preparation of the DEMO site are Melani and Patrick, both power system engineers. Melani, a part of ZEZ for seven years, has been actively driving social and technological innovation to support locally produced and community-managed renewable energy. Patrick, who joined the team a year ago, has quickly integrated into the project and is making significant contributions toward its development.

Erica, an environmental engineer, originally conceived the idea behind the Croatian DEMO and ensured its alignment with the objectives of DIGITISE. Supporting the financial aspects of the project, Anita and Tatjana, our financial officers, play a key role in ensuring that we remain on track with the budget, while also providing continuous support for all DEMO-related activities.

Q: What makes the Croatian demonstration site unique within the DIGITISE project, and how does it address local energy challenges? 

MF: Croatian demonstration site is located in the central region of Croatia. It brings various assets to the project, namely the household prosumers with installed rooftop solar PV, batteries, heat pumps, EV chargers etc. Twenty ZEZ customers who are already part of our community, will be actively engaged with DIGITISE, and share with the project their energy data, specific needs and expectations. As the end-users, they will get the opportunity to optimize their self-consumption and maximize energy savings, as well as learn about the options for additional market activities, such as energy sharing and flexibility, whether as individuals or within energy communities.    

Q: How is DIGITISE helping to foster community-driven energy initiatives in Croatia, particularly through citizen participation and prosumer engagement? 

MF: In Croatia, a new Renewable Energy Sources and High-Efficiency Cogeneration Act is currently in preparation and is expected to be open for public consultation in the first half of 2025. The new legislation is likely to introduce changes to the net metering model for households, which could result in a longer payback period for solar PV installations. To maintain the momentum in citizen investments in solar for self-consumption, it is crucial to introduce new market mechanisms and tools as soon as possible. DIGITISE will support the development of more flexible and decentralized energy management, reducing reliance on traditional support schemes like net metering. 

Q: Croatia’s energy market is undergoing significant changes with decentralization and renewable energy adoption – how do you see digital solutions playing a role in this transition?  

MF: Digital solutions will play a key role in Croatia’s energy transition by enabling a more flexible, decentralized, and consumer-driven energy market. As net metering models evolve and energy communities gain traction, digital tools will be needed for optimizing self-consumption and energy flows, monitoring system performance, introducing individualized and reliable new services etc.   

As our energy market becomes more decentralized and data-driven, consumers, and energy communities will need to have a basic understanding of digital tools to fully participate and gain benefits. Therefore, digital literacy is highly relevant to the success and replicability of digital solutions to be developed in DIGITISE. Education and accessible, easy to use interfaces will ensure that all citizens, not just tech-savvy ones, can benefit from the energy transition. 

Q: What are the key regulatory or infrastructural barriers in Croatia that may impact the scalability of digital energy innovations developed in DIGITISE? 

MF: We see energy communities as an important platform for energy sharing and flexibility schemes for household consumers and prosumers in the energy market. By enabling collective energy generation, storage, and consumption, they allow members to optimize energy flows, balance supply and demand, and actively participate in new market mechanisms.  One of the key regulatory barriers that could impact the scalability of digital energy innovations in Croatia, is the unclear regulatory framework in which energy communities should develop and operate. Other barriers that might hinder scalability of DIGITISE are the lack of Advanced Metering Infrastructure implemented for end consumers (namely households), and nonefficient communication (data sharing) between relevant market stakeholders (e.g. suppliers, DSO, community managers…). 

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