Duslo Sala chemical company signed an agreement with the Modernisation Fund to receive a state subsidy of €58 million, with the money to be used for the construction of a photovoltaic park and wind farm, a battery storage and an electrolyser for the production of green hydrogen, Duslo Sala general director Petr Blaha announced on Wednesday.
The project is currently in the environmental impact assessment stage. Its contract stipulates that construction works must be completed by 2030 and the costs are estimated to exceed €120 million.
Blaha pointed out that the photovoltaic park will be the second largest in Slovakia, built on an area spanning 19 hectares, whereas the wind farm is to be constructed near the chemical facility with a rated output of 50 MW.
This was confirmed also by Environmental Minister Tomas Taraba (SNS nominee). "Once the EU decided to commit itself to the path of green transformation of Europe, it needs to be said openly that this will be the path of higher prices. Seeing as we're already on this path, we guarantee on behalf of Slovakia that we will apply schemes of reverse industry subsidies just as the EU expects. This is one of the commitments that needs to work. Otherwise we can say goodbye to industry, in Slovakia for sure and in Europe in the foreseeable future as well," said Taraba.
According to Taraba, new legislation on emissions is needed. "There are companies that have to buy emission quotas and 50 percent of that income goes to the Finance Ministry's account. Under the new legislation, 100 percent will have to go to the Environmental Fund and all of that must return back to industry," he claimed.
(TASR)
