Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan for 2021 to 2030.

The Slovak Republic takes air quality, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, mitigating climate change, the security of supplies of all energy types and their affordability, extremely seriously. In 2019, the SR committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The gross domestic consumption of the SR features balanced shares of nuclear and fossil fuels. The development of the power industry in the SR focuses on optimising the energy mix to reduce emissions of greenhouse gas and pollutants as much as possible while retaining or increasing energy security and the affordability of the individual energy types. Pursuant to Section 88 of Act No 251/2012, on energy and on the amendment of certain other acts, as amended, the ME SR is responsible for preparing an energy policy for at least 20 years and for updating it in a five-year cycle. The Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan, prepared within the meaning of Art. 9 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action, is an update of the Energy Policy approved through Resolution of the Government of the SR No 548/2014 of 5 November 2014. The Energy Policy of the Slovak Republic (EP SR) originally featured four basic pillars - energy security, energy efficiency, competitiveness and sustainable energy. The EP SR also included science, research and innovation. This plan updates the existing Energy Policy while extending it to include decarbonisation. Sustainable development must meet the current needs of the population without limiting future generations’ ability to meet their own needs. It is therefore necessary to change technologies, processes and habits on both the generation and consumption sides.
The main quantified energy and climate targets for 2030 are, throughout the Union, to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 40% compared to 1990 (individual Member States have shares that take their local conditions into account), with the following binding targets at Union level: achieve an RES share in gross energy consumption of at least 32%, while the RES share in transport must be at least 14% in every Member State, a national energy efficiency contribution of at least 32% and electrical system interconnectivity of at least 15%. The main quantified NECP targets for the SR by 2030 are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for sectors not involved in emissions trading (non-ETS) by 20% (the share has been increased from the originally declared 12%). The RES share in final energy consumption has been set at 19.2% for 2030, together with meeting the required target of 14% of RES in transport. The elaborated measures to achieve the national contribution of the SR in energy efficiency show slightly lower values (30.3%) than the European target of 32.5%. Industry and buildings will be key to achieving the targets. The interconnectivity of the electricity grids is already above 50% and will remain so in 2030, so the target of at least 15% will be met. The NECP proposal submitted to the European Commission in December 2018 included a proposed SR contribution to the RES target of 18%. Taking into account the need to increase RES ambitions, and based on the PRIMES-EUCO model scenario that shows the possibility of achieving an RES share of 19%, as well as taking into account other additional factors, the proposal for the final NECP was submitted for a public comments procedure with thorough processing for a scenario with measures for a target RES value of 19.2% in 2030. An increase in the ambition to 20% was compared to this scenario, with the additional required investment calculated at around EUR 700 million. Based on the comments from the interdepartmental consultation procedure, the target of 19.2% was chosen because 5 entities directly supported the reference target while no entity was in favour of the alternative 20% target. Building a competitive low-carbon economy directed towards carbon neutrality is a long-term priority of the SR’s Energy Policy. The transition to a low-carbon economy is associated with additional costs that will be borne by consumers and/or taxpayers. For this reason, it will also be necessary to adopt measures that respect the primacy of energy efficiency principle, while RES should not be the main target but only one of the tools for such transformation. Maximising the use of new financial support mechanisms between 2021 and 2030 (Modernization Fund, Innovation Fund) will also be unavoidable, as these – with the proper setup of priority projects at national level – can make a significant contribution towards the transition to a low-carbon economy. Measures to ensure environmental sustainability are as follows: provide financial mechanisms and use the proceeds for the SR from quota auctions under the emissions trading scheme to support the energy and industry sectors, focusing on priority areas in line with the sustainable development principles as outlined above; intensify activities to reduce CO2 emissions, particularly in the transport sector; thoroughly assess the construction of new energy conversion resources in view of the possible negative impacts on environmental sustainability and on efficiency reduction; optimise the RES share, especially in heat generation; use natural gas and, in the long term, decarbonised gases and hydrogen; prepare measures to enable economic growth based on a low carbon, circular and a less energy- and material-intensive economy; ensure the timely implementation of the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP); contribute towards achieving the environmental sustainability of the set targets through appropriate and targeted regulatory measures; use waste-to-energy. The promotion of circular economy (recycling) contributes to achieving the energy efficiency target by reducing consumption of energy used in the industry in the processing of raw materials.