The Slovak Republic, as a member state of the European Union, has to follow European strategies, plans, and programs. In the frame of the Energy Sector, the “Green Paper: A European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy” (COM 2006) can be considered as a leading document. According to this document, renewable energy is already the third electricity generation source worldwide (after coal and gas) and has the potential to grow still further, with all the environmental and economic advantages that would follow. For renewable energy to fulfill its potential the policy framework needs to be supportive and in particular to stimulate increasing competitiveness of such energy sources while fully respecting the competition rules. Although some sources of low carbon indigenous energy are already viable, others, such as offshore wind, waves, and tidal energy need positive encouragement to be realized. The full potential of renewable energy will only be realized through a long-term commitment to develop and install renewable energy facilities.
How is the Slovak Republic prepared to use sustainable energy sources? In July 2004, the Government approved the document “Progress Report on the Development of Renewable Energy Sources, including the Identification of National Indicative Targets for the Use of Renewable Energy Sources.” According to this document, based on Slovak natural and economic conditions, it is realistic to produce electricity from renewable energy sources at approximately 5.9 TWh in 2010. Then, in 2006, the “Energy Policy of the Slovak Republic” was approved by resolution of the Government of the Slovak Republic No. 29 from January 11,2006. Under this policy, the obtainable ratio of all the renewable energy sources had to share in the overall electricity production at 19 % (5.9 TWh) in 2010, 24 % in 2020, and 27 % in 2030. Biomass is considered to be the most promising renewable source for heat and electricity production.
The energy policy was the starting point for the development of electro-energy, the thermal power industry, the gas industry, extraction, processing, and transit of oil, coal extraction, and the use of renewable energy sources. It defined three objectives:
1. Safeguarding, as effectively as possible, a secure and reliable supply of all forms of energy in desired volume and quality;
2. Decreasing the share of gross domestic energy consumption in gross domestic product—reducing the energy intensity;
3. Ensuring the volume of energy generation that would cover demand on a cost – effective principle.
To achieve the objectives of energy policy, 11 fundamental priorities were set in “Energy Policy of the Slovak Republic” (Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic 2006). To achieve point 8, “Increasing the share of renewable energy sources in the generation of electricity and heat with the aim of creating adequate
|
Table 7.1 Conservative scenario Republic |
for the use |
of renewable |
energy sources (RES) in |
the Slovak |
|
|
Type of RES (total joules, TJ) |
2010 |
2015 |
2020 |
2025 |
2030 |
|
Biomass |
31,000 |
48,000 |
66,000 |
85,000 |
120,000 |
|
Solar energy |
300 |
1,000 |
6,000 |
14,000 |
20,000 |
|
Geothermal energy |
200 |
1,000 |
3,000 |
4,500 |
7,000 |
|
Hydroenergy |
18,000 |
20,000 |
22,000 |
23,000 |
24,000 |
|
Wind energy |
300 |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|
Energy waste |
200 |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|
Total amount |
50,000 |
73,000 |
100,000 |
130,000 |
175,000 |
|
Share of RES in total energy consumption (%) |
6.4 |
9.0 |
12.0 |
16.0 |
21.0 |
|
x, no increase is expected; 1,000 TJ = 278 GWh (in electricity) Source: Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic (2008) |
|
Table 7.2 Optimistic scenario Republic |
for the use |
of renewable |
energy sources (RES) in |
the Slovak |
|
|
Year |
2010 |
2015 |
2020 |
2025 |
2030 |
|
Type of RES (TJ) |
|||||
|
Biomass |
31,000 |
50,000 |
74,000 |
90,000 |
120,000 |
|
Solar energy |
300 |
3,000 |
12,000 |
22,000 |
37,000 |
|
Geothermal energy |
200 |
2,000 |
7,000 |
10,000 |
14,000 |
|
Hydroenergy |
18,000 |
20,000 |
22,000 |
23,000 |
24,000 |
|
Wind energy |
300 |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|
Energy waste |
200 |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|
Total amount |
50,000 |
78,000 |
120,000 |
150,000 |
200,000 |
|
Share of RES in total energy consumption (%) |
6.4 |
9.5 |
14.0 |
18.0 |
24.0 |
|
x, no increase is expected; 1,000 TJ = 278 GWh (in electricity) Source: Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic 2008 |
additional sources in order to cover domestic demand,” many documents were established. As the most important, we mention here the “Strategy of Higher Usage of Renewable Sources of Energy” (Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic 2007) and the “Energy Security Strategy” (Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic 2008).
The future of using renewable energy sources in the Slovak Republic is illustrated in Tables 7.1 and 7.2, which represent the so-called “conservative” and “optimistic” approaches. To achieve both the proposed numbers the Slovak Republic had to build and still has to build new power stations based on renewable energy sources.
The evaluation of expected impacts on the environment and sustainable development, resulting from the new developed power stations, is governed in compliance with the relevant legislation. The environment is also affected by the development of related networks and systems. Therefore, the development and placement of new system should be located especially in areas where a sufficient system and network is already present. The development of new facilities and the modernization of existing energy facilities should be realized only under the rule of law, the implementation of recommendations and comments from the environment impact assessment process: Act No. 24/2006 Coll. on environmental impact assessment, Ministry of the Environment, and according to the decision of authorities.
