Feed-in tariff
Updated: 10.01.2019
Author: Boris Valach
In the Slovak Republic, electricity from renewable sources is supported mainly through a fixed feed-in tariff. The feed-in tariff consists of two parts: the price of electricity for losses (market price) and a surcharge. The market price is paid for all electricity supplied from RE facilities up to a support limit of 125 MW. The surcharge is billed by the plant operator for the electricity generated, less the internal technological consumption of electricity (§ 3 par. 1 Letter b in conjunction with § 6 par. 1 RES Act).
In the case of photovoltaics, the surcharge only applies to roof-top or façade integrated installations up to 30 kW. For all other renewable energy plants with an installed capacity of more than 5 MW (15 MW in case of wind power plants), the surcharge is paid only for the proportionate amount of electricity produced annually.
Please note: In October 2018, the major reform of RES Act (No. 309/2018 Coll.) was approved by the National Council of the Slovak Republic. Under the new legislation, the so-called local energy source (up to the capacity of 500 kW) promoting self-consumption, new large-scale RES-E installations’ promotion solely via system of auctions or the single buyer principle will be introduced. The future amendment of the RES Act is entering into force on 1 January 2019. Since the amendment of RES Act has not come into force yet, the information provided do not reflect the new legislative changes starting from 1 January 2019.
Eligible technologies
In general, all renewable electricity generation technologies are eligible (§ 3 par. 1 in conjunction with § 2 par. 1 Letter a RES Act). However, the plant capacity is limited:
- Only plants whose total capacity does not exceed 125 MW are eligible for the feed in tariff and/ or the surcharge CHP plants with a total capacity over 200 MW and installations with a share of renewable energy of at least 30% are also eligible (§ 3 par. 3 Letter a RES Act).
- Only plants whose total installed capacity does not exceed 5 MW are eligible for the surcharge (§ 3 par. 4 a RES Act). Wind energy plants are eligible for the surcharge only if their total installed capacity does not
Plants whose total installed capacity exceeds 5 MW and wind energy plants whose total installed capacity exceeds 15 MW are eligible for a payment of the proportion of 5 (or 15) MW to the total installed capacity (§ 3 par. 4 Letters c and e RES Act).
| Wind energy | Eligible (§ 2 par. 1 Letter a No. 3 RES Act). |
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| Solar energy | Eligible (§ 2 par. 1 Letter a No. 2 RES Act) with following exception: - Only PV installations on rooftops or façades with an installed capacity of no more than 30 kW are eligible (§ 3 par. 10 RES Act).
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| Geothermal energy | Eligible (§ 2 par. 1 Letter a No. 4 RES Act). |
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| Biogas | Biogas, landfill gas, sewage gas and bio-methane are eligible (§ 2 par. 1 a No. 6 and No. 7 RES Act). |
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| Hydro-power | Eligible (§ 2 par. 1 Letter a No. 1 RES Act) with following exceptions: - Pumped-storage facilities are not eligible (§ 2 par. 1 Letter b RES Act).
- Hydro power plants with an installed capacity of more than 5 MW are not eligible (§ 3 par. 14 RES Act).
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| Biomass | Eligible for a feed-in tariff (§ 2 par. 1 Letter a No. 5 RES Act) with a limit of 40 GWh in case of new biomass facilities for RES-E generation (§ 3 par. 8 RES Act). |
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Amount
The amount of tariff differs according to the source of energy used (for further information please see Decree No. 18/2017 of ÚRSO) and the year of commissioning/ in the year in which a plant is put into operation or in the year of reconstruction or upgrade. The amount of tariff is calculated by the regulatory authority ÚRSO.
| Wind energy | From 1 January 2017: € 44.18 per MWh (§ 10 par. 1 Letter c Decree No. 18/2017 of ÚRSO) |
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| Solar energy | Roof-top or façade-integrated installations of up to 30 kW, from 1 January 2017: € 84.98 per MWh (§ 10 par. 1 Letter b Decree No. 18/2017) |
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| Geothermal energy | From 1 January 2017: € 108.71 per MWh (§ 10 par. 1 Letter d Decree No. 18/2017) |
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| Biogas | From 1 January 2017 (§ 10 par. 1 Letter g Decree No. 18/2017): - Landfill gas or sewage gas: € 58.66 per MWh
- Biomethane produced from biogas using anaerobic digestion up to a generation capacity of 1 MW: € 95.95 per MWh
- Biogas plants using anaerobic digestion up to a generation capacity of 250 kW: € 102.00 per MWh
- Biogas plants using anaerobic digestion with a generation capacity from 250 kW – 500 kW: € 95.89 per MWh
- Biogas plants using anaerobic digestion with a generation capacity from 500 kW – 750 kW: € 91.61 per MWh
- Biogas plants using anaerobic digestion with a generation capacity exceeding 750 kW: € 90.02 per MWh
- Biogas produced through thermochemical conversion: € 84.72 per MWh
- Biogas produced through anaerobic digestion of bio-degradable waste: € 78.42 per MWh
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| Hydro-power | From 1 January 2017 (§ 10 par. 1 Letter a Decree No. 18/2017): - up to 100 kW: € 111.25 per MWh
- from 101 to 200 kW: € 109.15 per MWh
- from 201 to 500 kW: € 106.80 per MWh
- from 501 kW to 1 MW: € 105.11 per MWh
- from 1 MW to 5 MW: € 97.95 per MWh
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| Biomass | From 1 January 2017 (§ 10 par. 1 Letter e Decree No. 18/2017): - Designated biomass except cereal straw: € 70.31 per MWh
- Other biomass from waste: € 74.30 per MWh
- Biomass from straw: € 92.17 per MWh
- Bioliquids: € 80.86 per MWh
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Addressees
- The persons entitled are those electricity producers that comply with the terms and conditions for support pursuant to § 3 RES Act (§ 4 par. 1 RES Act).
- The regional distribution system operator is obliged to pay the feed-in tariffs (§ 5 par. 6 Letters a and b RES Act).
Procedure
Process flow | The regional distribution system operator is obliged to enter into "agreements on electricity supply to cover losses in the distribution grid" with the electricity producers (§ 5 par. 6 Letter a RES Act). The distribution system operator is obliged to take all electricity that was generated by the electricity producer entitled to support (§ 5 par. 6 Letter b RES Act).
The RES plant operator must have a licence to produce electricity issued by ÚRSO, a pricing decision on the amount of the feed-in price, and separate metering of electricity produced from renewable energy sources via a certified meter. Based on the amount of electricity measured, the plant operator submits information on electricity production to the regional distribution system operator and invoices that amount. |
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Competent authority | Regulatory Office for Network Industries (ÚRSO) |
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Degression
- The feed-in tariff applicable in the year in which a given plant is put into operation will apply for the entire obligation period (§ 6 par. 3 RES Act). The regulatory authority may increase the tariff levels in case of significant increase in the prices of the raw materials used in energy generation in the previous year (§ 6 par. 4 RES Act).
- The feed-in tariff for new plants is guaranteed for three years and shall not be lower than 70% of the tariff previously applicable (§ 6 par. 7 RES Act). This minimum ceased to apply to PV and wind energy plants. The tariff level will not be granted if the project has been co-funded by the government (§ 6 par. 5 RES Act).
The tariff level will not be subject to reduction where the government grant was used for measures to achieve the required emission limits or if the investment aid from the state budget was granted according to the special regulation (§ 6 par. 6 RES Act).
Eligibility period
The obligation period for all eligible technologies is limited to 15 years and starts in the year in which a plant is put into operation or in the year of reconstruction or upgrade. Operators of plants whose total installed capacity does not exceed 500 kW are entitled to the payment of the price of electricity to cover grid losses during the entire lifetime of the plant (§ 3 par. 6 RES Act).
Distribution of costs
| Consumers | The costs of the support scheme are borne by the consumers, through their electricity bill (so-called Tariff for System Operation, "TPS", Generation of Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources), i.e. € 17.58 per MWh in 2018. |
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| Distribution mechanism | When determining the prices, the Regulatory Office for Network Industries (ÚRSO) must consider the costs incurred by the regional distribution system operator for the support scheme (§ 5 par. 1 RES Act). |
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Slovakia
