BRATISLAVA – Slovakia will end subsidies for renewable energy by 2026, with the head of the country’s energy regulator warning against “speculators,” “business lobbying organisations,” and the push for “green ideology.”
The move will affect around 600 renewable energy producers, including 89 this year. Holjenčík, a long-time critic of renewables, has repeatedly condemned renewable energy’s “chaotic” development, which hinder widespread adoption.
Solar and wind are unreliable, even in traditionally pro-renewable countries, he said, adding that a “healthy energy mix” in the EU should be built on nuclear power.
Individuals should be free to invest in solar panels or heat pumps for their homes, but state subsidies should not come “at the expense of Slovak and EU citizens” or benefit speculators and “political promoters of green ideology.”
Slavakia’s Regulatory Office for Network (URSO) Industries said that while grid access privileges will remain, feed-in tariff subsidies – funded through electricity bills – are no longer favoured.
“If operators receive no support and are forced to sell at market prices, frequent negative pricing could lead them to reconsider keeping their renewable facilities operational,” analyst Ján Pišta told Euractiv Slovakia.
A drop in Slovakia’s renewable energy share, Pišta added, could make it even harder to meet EU climate targets.
The Commission already considers Slovakia’s revised renewable energy target of 23% by 2030 insufficient, given the EU’s overall goal of 42.5%.
“It is surprising that the Slovak regulator is so anti-green,” said Ján Karaba of the Slovak Association for Sustainable Energy (SAPI), arguing that the declining costs and improving efficiency of wind and solar energy ensure their growing global role.
Karaba pointed to data from WindEurope noting that the largest increases in wind energy capacity have been recorded not only in long-time fossil fuel-dependent countries like Germany and the UK but also in traditionally nuclear-reliant nations like France.
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