HRVATSKI OPERATOR PRIJENOSNOG SUSTAVA D.D.

Their core work

HOPS is Croatia's national electricity transmission system operator (TSO), responsible for managing the high-voltage grid, ensuring power system stability, and enabling cross-border electricity flows in Southeast Europe. In H2020 projects, they contribute real-world grid operational data, validate tools for renewable energy integration, and test cross-border coordination mechanisms across the Eastern European transmission network. Their participation brings the perspective of a TSO operating at the intersection of Western and Eastern European power markets, dealing daily with variable renewable energy sources and regional grid balancing challenges.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

HOPS began its H2020 engagement (2017-2019) focused on physical grid challenges: cross-border power flows, RES storage, regional TSO coordination, and hardware solutions like power flow controllers and dynamic line rating. From 2019 onward, their focus shifted toward software-driven and market-oriented solutions — flexibility marketplaces, advanced pricing models, grid predictive management, and cybersecurity. This mirrors the broader European energy transition from infrastructure-first to digitalization-and-markets approaches.

HOPS is moving from physical grid hardware challenges toward digital grid management, market flexibility mechanisms, and cybersecurity — expect future interest in AI-driven grid optimization and secure data platforms.

How they like to work

HOPS participates exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator — consistent with TSO roles where they provide real-world infrastructure, operational data, and validation environments rather than leading research. They work in large consortia (96 unique partners across 5 projects), suggesting they are comfortable in complex multi-partner setups typical of large energy demonstration projects. Their value to consortia is as a living laboratory: a national grid operator that can test and validate project results under real operational conditions.

HOPS has collaborated with 96 unique partners across 25 countries, giving them one of the broader networks for a Southeast European TSO. Their partnerships span the full EU energy research ecosystem, with particular density in Eastern and Southern European grid operators and energy research institutions.

What sets them apart

As Croatia's TSO, HOPS offers something few partners can: direct access to the transmission grid of a country sitting at the crossroads of Central, Southeast, and Mediterranean European power systems. This geographic position makes them ideal for testing cross-border solutions between well-integrated Western markets and the developing Eastern European grid. For consortium builders, they bring operational credibility, real grid data, and a validation environment that bridges EU energy market zones.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CROSSBOW
  Largest project by funding (EUR 542K) and longest duration (2017-2022), addressing the core TSO challenge of managing variable renewables and storage across national borders in Eastern Europe.
• CyberSEAS
  Marks a strategic pivot into energy cybersecurity (2021-2024), their most recent and only security-sector project — signaling awareness that grid digitalization demands cyber resilience.
• FLEXGRID
  Their only project focused on electricity market redesign and flexibility services, representing the shift from infrastructure operator to active market participant.