Support schemes
A major reform of the RES Act (No. 209/2018 Coll.) was approved by the National Council of Slovakia in October 2018. The below text does not yet reflect the changes this new legislation will bring about, because it has not yet come into force. However, the new legislation will significantly change the support of renewables in the Slovak Republic by switching to auctions for some large-scale RES installations.
Electricity
In the Slovak Republic, there are three main instruments for supporting the promotion and use of renewable energy technology: feed-in-tariff, subsidies and tax regulation mechanisms.
- Feed-in-tariffs, regulated by the Regulatory Office for Network Industries (URSO), are available for wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, hydropower, and biomass technologies for various installed capacities. The FiT differs not only according to the renewable energy source, but also the year in which a power plant is either put into operation or is upgraded.
- The Operational Programme Quality of Environment (OP KŽP) allocates investment grants from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for natural and legal persons, associations and non-profit organisations. OP KŽP focuses on the sustainable use of natural resources, climate change adaptation, risk management related to climate change-related emergencies, as well as the promotion of an energy efficient low-carbon economy. The responsible authorities for the allocation of funds are the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic (MŽP SR) and the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA).
- Renewable energies are further promoted through the exemption of an excise tax, which is otherwise mandatory for the consumption of electricity. Renewable electricity generation technologies (wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, hydropower, biomass) are all eligible for this exemption.
Heating and Cooling
Under the Operational Programme Quality of Environment (OP KŽP), subsidies are granted to power plant operators for the support of renewable heat.
Transport
Two main support schemes, namely a tax regulation mechanism and a biofuels quota, exist for the support of renewable energy sources in the transport sector.
Petrol and diesel with a legally defined minimum content of biogenic material are subject to a lower mineral oil tax, while mineral oil purely from biogenic material is completely exempt from the tax. In addition, a biofuel quota in accordance with the RES Act sets a minimum quantity of biofuel in diesel and petrol fuels on the market.
For more detailed information regarding the available support mechanisms in the Slovak Republic, please refer to RES Legal.
Last update: 07 2023