Green Light for Renewable Energy in Slovakia

The production of green energy in Slovakia is steadily growing and keeping pace with other European countries. This provides investors with more opportunities. The share of gross consumption of electricity generated from renewable sources in our country in 2021 was approximately 19 %. The European Parliament has recently approved a new target for 2030 of 42.5 %.

Operating a business in the renewable energy sector in Slovakia is paying off a lot more today. The Slovak government has approved higher purchase prices for electricity produced by burning biomass, biogas, waste and bioliquids. This support of green electricity is a response to significantly increased input costs that green energy producers had to bear. The government has thus given a helping hand to producers who had been forced to downsize their production due to financial difficulties.

The production of alternative energy is currently being boosted by the Recovery Plan investments, which supports the construction of new infrastructure for the production of energy from renewable sources. According to the Slovak Ministry of Economy, the renewable energy auction mechanism shall be open to a wide range of technologies such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas, landfill gas and sewage gas.

Furthermore, the European Parliament adopted new rules concerning the infrastructure necessary to make recharging stations more accessible. There should be electric charging pools for cars at least once every 60 kilometres along main EU network routes (pan-European corridors) by 2026 and charging stations for trucks and buses once every 120 kilometres by 2028. No subscription will be required at these stations. The drivers of alternative fuel vehicles will be able to pay simply using a bank card. This demand is also met by the Slovak Recovery Plan, which includes a number of measures intended challenges to support the construction of ultra-fast charging network. 

Business in the Slovak energy sector can be conducted on the basis of a permit or by a simple notification either depending on various conditions. One of the conditions for obtaining this permit is registration in the Register of Public Sector Partners. Although the EU urges the member states to accelerate the process of permits to install renewable energy equipment, the whole process can be time-consuming due to its complexity and the number of requirements. Therefore, contacting legal professionals with experience in this area is recommendable.

EU funding is gradually redirecting its course and switching from natural gas projects towards support of various means of green energy production, storage and consumption. The transition to green energy is also driven by the need to reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels. However, the future of renewable electricity production in Slovakia will largely depend on the newly appointed Slovak government.

by Mgr. Veronika Kvašňovská

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