Slovakia joined the European Wind Charter on Monday during the meeting of energy ministers in Brussels. The content of the initiative is, for example, the acceleration of permitting processes, a more transparent environment for the preparation of wind power projects, as well as commitments of member countries to build new capacities during the years 2024 - 2026.
The forthcoming charter is part of the Wind Energy Action Plan presented by the European Commission back in November. Ján Lacko, a member of the executive committee of the Slovak Association of the Photovoltaic and RES Industry (SAPI), reminded last week that Slovakia is the second worst country in the ranking of the wind power use and is one of the countries most dependent on gas imports, including from Russia. He added that while other countries, including the Czech Republic and Poland, have started to create conditions for faster development of wind energy as early as 2022, Slovakia is still lagging behind due to the energy crisis.
According to SAPI, wind power projects are still hampered by administrative and other barriers. "At the same time, wind power is also a way to reduce dependence on Russian gas, which was one of Fitch rating agency's reservations when it decided to downgrade Slovakia's credit rating," the association pointed out.
SAPI members are currently working on wind power projects with an installed capacity of more than 1,100 MW and a total value of more than EUR 1.4 billion. If implemented, these projects could generate approximately 3 TWh of electricity annually, enough to cover the annual consumption of 736,000 households.
(TASR)
