Slovakia’s solar panels may not all be eligible for EU funds

Fewer solar panels and heat pumps are expected to be funded through EU funds in Slovakia in the future as the environmental ‘do no significant harm’ principle will be among the criteria to apply for state funding from July.

The change in conditions is due to the inclusion of ‘do no significant harm’ in new cohesion funds for the programming period 2021-2027 – a condition the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency intends to include in its call for registration for renewable energy installations.

“We are starting a whole new period with new conditions, a new list of facilities and a new list of eligible contractors,” the Agency’s CEO, Stanislav Jurikovič, has said.

The previous programme awarded over €111 million to 53,000 households, who could choose from a list of over 5,000 appliances. This time, there is over €140 million to go around, but the new sustainability rules will likely make the list smaller. The agency is still waiting for methodology from the Ministry of EU funds to complete the list.

In the new programming period, EU-funded technologies must contribute to at least one in six EU environmental objectives. However, they also cannot significantly jeopardise the other five.

The objectives include climate change mitigation, sustainable use and protection of water resources, transition to a circular economy, waste prevention and recycling, pollution prevention and control, and protection of ecosystems.

However, adhering to this principle in practice will be technically challenging.

For example, it may be difficult for appliances to meet the requirements for circularity since many are difficult or impossible to recycle. Many heat pumps also run on climate-warming fluorinated gases, which has quite a damaging impact on the environment.

The first installations are expected to be completed in September, said Jurikovič, adding that “financial contributions with a minimum of administration will be available for the long term”, which should give people time to “choose reliable contractors and suitable equipment”.

(Barbara Zmušková, Irena Jenčová | EURACTIV.sk)

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