Slovakia’s climate and energy strategy delayed, targets higher gas usage

4 months ago 16

Slovakia falls behind in submitting its finalised national plan for emissions reduction by 2030, which now includes doubling the natural gas share in central heating systems and lacks a clear timetable for reducing fossil fuel use, raising concerns amongst environmentalists.

Slovakia’s economy ministry has admitted it will miss the deadline for submitting the final version of its national energy and climate plan, which outlines its strategy for contributing to a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030. The plan is now expected to be submitted to the Commission “in the autumn”.

When Euractiv Slovakia inquired about the potential contents of the plan, the ministry referenced an earlier update from 2023. However, this version had already been criticised by the EC in December 2023 for its low ambitions regarding energy efficiency and the share of renewables.

All scenarios presented in the earlier version of the plan indicate that Slovakia will double the share of natural gas in central heating supply by 2030. The ministry explained that this increase is due to the phasing out of coal in the heating sector, with plans to eventually replace natural gas with biomass, wind and solar power.

“The high degree of centralisation in heat supply provides favourable technical conditions for utilising biomass, biomethane, and geothermal energy,” said ministry spokesperson Mária Pavlusik to Euractiv Slovakia.

However, the specifics of how and when this transition will occur remain unclear as the ministry did not provide a specific timetable for reducing the share of fossil fuels, including gas, in Slovakia.

Regarding the enhancement of green heating processes, such as the adoption of heat pumps, the ministry projected an almost twofold increase in the use of heat from heat pumps by 2030 compared to current levels.

Environmentalists have raised concerns about the vagueness of Slovakia’s plan, arguing that the text does not clearly state whether the heating sector will only replace coal with fossil gas and biomass or whether it will “make significant use of heat pumps and geothermal energy”.

“According to a study by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Slovakia ranks as the worst EU country in projected per capita heat production from heat pumps by 2030,” stressed Juraj Melichár, coordinator of the NGO Friends of the Earth-FotE, to Euractiv Slovakia.

“I hope the sections on heat pump heating and geothermal energy in the national plan are still being updated. After all, heat pump production in Slovakia is growing rapidly,” Melichár noted.

(Irena Jenčová, Natália Silenská | Euractiv.sk)