According to experts, large-scale electrification and investment in smart grids will help strengthen Slovakia’s economy, ensure its energy independence, and overcome current geopolitical challenges. Slovakia’s economy — one of the most industrially productive in Europe relative to its GDP and heavily dependent on exports — is facing an existential challenge. On one hand, it must modernize its production; on the other, it must preserve its competitiveness amid energy uncertainty and rising political protectionism. The transition to clean energy and large-scale electrification could offer a solution. Both strategies are essential to keeping industry running, even though they require major investments in infrastructure and a profound transformation of the labor market, experts emphasized during the opening debate of the eighth Conference on the Decarbonization of the Slovak Economy.
Radim Dvořák, a representative of the European Commission, stated that the Commission regarded the green transition and the shift toward a clean industry as “absolutely essential” for the entire continent. He added that the Commission worked on this issue daily and viewed decarbonization as “a driver of growth and a major opportunity to strengthen companies’ competitiveness and resilience.” Milan Zvara, from Western Slovakia Electricity (ZSE), sees the future in modern industrial electrification. He explained that, according to some studies, “up to 85% of industrial processes” could be decarbonized through electrification — although this would generate enormous demand for energy resources. He also referred to a SEPS study published earlier this year, which estimates that under a decarbonization scenario, electricity consumption would increase by 25 terawatt-hours over the next ten years, nearly doubling current consumption. From the standpoint of Slovakia’s competitiveness, electricity is, according to Zvara, a strategic resource. It is the only area “in which we can be competitive with China, and especially with the United States,” because, as he put it, it can be produced directly in Europe.
Source: TASR
