Ministry of Economy: Renewable energy could be regulated by auctions

Week in Slovakia

Case: Regulation of renewable energy sources

Realisation and construction of solar and wind power plants in Slovakia could be regulated by the so called reverse auction. The agreement was reached by the government which approved an analysis of the Ministry of Economy on future system of support for renewable energy sources. Based on the auction those investors that are willing to construct the power plants also at a lower feed-in tariff would be selected.

„I am convinced that by implementing this system, the buy-in price of renewable would come closer to market prices. This would mean that those who are able to supply the energy at a lowest price would get the chance to sell it,” stated Minister Miškov. As the analysis further proposes, the amount of installed capacity that would be put into auction would be set each year in order to reach the national action plan on renewable energy and at the same time to secure safety and reliability of the network.

According to the Institute for Energy Security, the auction is a good tool and it can result in higher transparency and lower end prices of electricity. The law amendment proposal should be submitted by Minister Miškov to the cabinet until the end of October.

Monday – 30th May 2011

The new regulatory policy has relatively high ambitions according to Tomáš Šipoš from the company Západoslovenská energetika. One of the ambitious goals is its 5 years period. According to Šipoš, energy legislative in Slovakia is formed by four main factors: global trends, goals of EU energy policies, the market environment and Slovakia´s interests. These factors should also inflence the regulatory policy.

According to alternative suppliers, price regulation is not necessary as the market with electricity and natural gas is competitive enough. However there are other problems which should be solved under the regulatory policy. Martin Ondko from Magna E.A stated at the SPX conference that one of the problems is the structure of prices, expansion of photovoltaic sector and its influence on electricity prices etc.

Another energy company wants to offer its service to Slovak households. Company SE Predaj, which is a subsidiary company of Slovenské elektrárne wants to supply households with electricity.

Tuesday – 31st May 2011

Heating companies are not satisfied with the new regulatory policy as it still requires from the companies to propose one common price. The companies would welcome a gradual deregulation of the prices for heating whereas a good example is the Czech republic. The new regulatory policy will not bring any substantive changes in the heating sector. A negative in the policy is the fact that the heating sector will still be limited in the extent and structure of its justified costs.

Slovakia will connect is electricity market with Hungary. Representatives from the national regulatory offices, operators of transmission networks and institutions responsible for organising electricity markets in Slovakia, Hungary and Czech republic have signed a memorandum on cooperation in creating a integrated single European electricity market. The regional integration should be concluded in 2012 by using the methodology of reconnecting the markets by a single price.

Bratislava has its first public charging station for electromobiles. The station is in front of the building of the Ministry of Economy and it is the second station in Bratislava, but first public. Those who are interested in electric vehicles can use the station for free until the end of 2011. The station was provided by the energy company Východoslovenská energetika. The very first charging station was built in Košice in November 2010.

Wednesday – 1st June 2011

Recharging stations in Slovakia are an unknown concept for the building authorities. The process of constructing a public recharge station for electromobiles can be finished in a day, however the process of gaining a building permission from the authority can take weeks. According to investors the best solution would be to include the stations in the category of small constructions which would exempt it from acquiring a construction permission. According to Michal Kožár from Východoslovenská energetika, the position of municipalities in towns are more constructive as they are almost always in favour of building a station.

Minister of Economy Juraj Miškov arrived to the latest government hearings in an electromobile. According to his own words, his resort should be an example of using green energy. After Miškov also other members of the ministry will be able to test the car.

Zoologists, but also the public could observe online for two months the life of the golden eagle and duck-hawk in the National Park of Tatra mountains. The camera set in the nests was running on electricity produced by solar panels. Installation of the solar panel was a joint project of the National Park and Slovenské Elektrárne under the project Energy for nature with a focus on supporting biodiversity in Tatra mountains.

Thursday – 2nd June 2011

The current chief of the Regulatory office Jozef Holjenčík will remain in his function until autumn this year. As Richard Sulík, chairman of the Parliament informed, Minister of Economy Juraj Miškov withdraw the law amendment on network industries, due to the fact that it was in conflict with the parliamentary law.

A possible price increase for natural gas for households will be postponed. The reason for it as the Regulatory Office for Network Industries informed was that SPP did not hand in all the necessary documentation. Thus the price negotiations were suspended and will not be renewed until SPP hands in all the missing information. SPP wants to increase the prices for households by 8 % on 1st July and another 21 % in September.

Friday – 3rd June 2011

The energy company Východoslovenská energetika has revealed its balance of incomes for 2010. According to the statistics, the net revenues reached 73,2 million Euro, which is 74,5 % more if compared to the previous year. The low revenues were mainly caused by the global financial crisis.

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