Renewable energy sources

Renewable sources are a crucial component of the country's energy mix as they provide an alternative to fossil fuels. This contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, diversifying energy supplies, and limiting dependence on unreliable and unstable fossil fuel markets, especially oil and gas, since energy generated from renewable sources comes from the country's own territory. For some technologies (such as water, solar, and wind energy), there are no emissions during operation. Increasing the share of RES thus contributes to reducing environmental pressures and, consequently, minimizing negative impacts on human health.

The utilization of renewable energy sources, beside the mentioned advantages, also poses certain risks. The most significant risk arises from the nature of these sources. Electricity generation from solar and wind energy is characterized by production fluctuations that negatively affect the security and reliability of the power grid operation. Another risk is a significant increase in electricity costs. In addition to these risks, there are also environmental negative impacts affecting the landscape, habitats, ecosystems, watercourses, and more. These adverse effects can be minimized through careful site selection of renewable energy sources and consideration of all potential negative impacts of the specific renewable energy technology. Nonetheless, the benefits outweigh the potential negative impacts, and the utilization of RES is among the priorities of the Slovak Energy Policy.

EU legislation on the promotion of renewable energy has evolved significantly over the last 15 years.

The Renewable Energy Directive from 2009 stipulated that by the year 2020, 20% of the energy consumption in the EU must be covered by renewable sources. Additionally, all Member States were obligated to achieve a 10% share of renewable energy in the transport sector. In addition to the common target, the Directive set binding national targets for the overall share of RES in gross final energy consumption for individual EU countries, taking into account their baseline situation and the overall RES potential. Slovakia's target was set at 14%, a goal that Slovakia successfully achieved in 2020.

To support electricity production from renewable sources in Slovakia, Act No. 309/2009 Coll. on the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources and High-Efficiency Cogeneration was approved in 2009. This Act improved the functioning of the electricity market in the field of RES and created a stable business environment. It ensured a long-term guarantee of feed-in tariffs for 15 years and, at the same time, set the direction for electricity production from RES by favouring the construction of small and decentralized facilities. The Act also guarantees priority transmission and distribution of electricity from RES. Since 2014, a legislative change significantly simplified the connection process for small sources up to 10 kW for households that cover a large part of their energy consumption with self-generated electricity.

In 2018, the revised Renewable Energy Directive came into force as part of the Clean Energy for All Europeans package, aiming to assist in meeting emission reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement. The Directive establishes a new binding EU target for renewable energy by 2030, requiring at least 32% of final energy consumption. It includes a clause allowing for an upward adjustment of this share by 2023 and an increased target of 14% for the share of renewable fuels in transport by 2030.

Slovakia has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. This commitment led to the adoption of the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan, updating Slovakia's Energy Policy from 2014 and outlining targets until 2030. Optimal utilization of RES is a key factor in achieving a low-carbon economy, with a particular emphasis on the development of RES, especially in heat production. Slovakia's projected target for 2030 is 19.2%.

In December 2019, the European Green Deal was adopted as the overarching framework for EU clean energy policy. This new growth strategy aims to make Europe the world's first climate-neutral continent, focusing on fairness, resource efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and competitiveness.

In July 2021, as part of the implementation of the European Green Deal package, the Commission published a new legislative package on climate and energy entitled "Fit for 55": achieving the EU's 2030 climate target on the road to climate neutrality. The package represents one of the most comprehensive sets of climate and energy proposals the Commission has ever put forward. Also included in the package is a proposal to revise the Renewable Energy Directive to align the targets for renewable energy set therein with the new climate ambitions. To achieve the goal for 2030, the directive proposes to increase the overall binding EU target from the current 32% to a new level, namely to 40% of energy from RES in the EU's energy mix. These efforts will be complemented by indicative national contributions showing how each Member State should contribute to achieving the collective objective. The post – 2030 energy policy framework is currently under negotiation.

The share of energy from RES has gradually increased since 2005. As it is a share, the growing share did not always reflect the actual increase in energy from RES, expressed as the gross total RES consumption or the gross final RES consumption in the case of the share of energy from RES in sectors. Over the period from 2005 to 2021, the overall share of generated energy from RES increased to 17.4%. Compared to the shares of 16.9% and 17.3% in 2019 and 2020, respectively, the improvement in 2021 was only marginal. The share of RES in electricity generation in 2021 was 22.4% (in accordance with the definition in Article 5(1)(a) and Article 5(3) of Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from RES). Most of the electricity was generated in hydropower plants, making the amount of electricity generated from RES in Slovakia dependent on suitable hydrological conditions. The share of RES in heating and cooling generation was at the level of 19.5%, with a dominant share of solid biomass (wood, including wood waste and other solid waste). The share of RES in transport reached 8.8% in 2021.

In the year-on-year comparison of 2020 to 2021, there was a minimal increase in the overall share of RES (0.45 percentage points) and shares in the sectors of electricity generation (1.2 percentage points) and transport (1 percentage point). On the other hand, the share of RES in heating and cooling generation decreased by 0.3 percentage points year-on-year.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shifted the paradigms of energy policy. Slovakia and Europe must revamp their plans to achieve carbon neutrality and navigate them without relying on Russian energy resources, be it coal, natural gas, or oil. Given the current developments in the availability of traditional energy resources such as gas, oil, and coal, the European Commission (EC) has proposed changing the EU's target for 2030 from the original 32% to 45%. Achieving this will require a transformation of the energy system in all member countries, leading to the need to reassess the national target for 2030, including in Slovakia. Discussions are underway about an updated policy framework for renewable energy for the period up to 2030 and beyond. This effort will be complemented by indicative national contributions, outlining how each member state should contribute to achieving the collective goal.

The European Union has presented its REPowerEU plan, which is intended to serve as a guide for European countries on how to cope with the acute issues arising from disruptions in Russian energy supplies while staying on track towards zero emissions. The original plan aimed to use natural gas as a transitional fuel, but currently, the delivery of this resource is becoming more complicated. In addition to uncertain raw material availability, decarbonization efforts are further impacted by inflation and extremely high energy prices, creating space for the massive development of renewable energy sources.

Share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption