Executive Summary:
The Slovak market for electric power generation is small compared to that of other European countries. The total installed capacity with all power sources was 7,728 MW in 2019. Approximately 54,7% of the total production of 27,149 GWH of electricity in Slovakia was obtained from nuclear power stations, 21% from conventional power stations, 14.4% from hydro stations and 8.9% from renewable sources.
The total potential of renewable sources in Slovakia is approximately 27,000 GWh per year. This number includes renewable sources exploitable by technologies that are available and affordable at the market. The current utilization of renewable sources is approximately 14% of the total consumption of primary power sources. In general, photovoltaic, biomass, geothermal, wind, and hydro power projects are the most promising potential U.S. exports in the renewable energy sector.
Current Market Needs:
Biomass has the largest technical potential 11,200 GWh per year, which is approximately 40 % of the total domestic production of energy in Slovakia. Biomass has good prospects in energy production for heating, mainly in the form of wood chips and hay (for central heating systems) and wood pellets and briquettes (for households). A relatively fast solution for increasing the use of biomass is in co-combustion with fossil fuels in thermal power plants and combined electricity-and-heat generation. In the case of larger installations, a sufficient supply of biomass material is the most important factor. Another possibility for the use of biomass is the production of biogas. Biomass is also a potential source for the generation of biofuels.
Geothermal potential in Slovakia is approximately 6,300 GWh per year, but currently only 145 GWh are being used, which is only 2.6% of the total potential. Geothermal waters in Slovakia are being used at 64 locations (with a heating capacity of 280 MW) but more need to be built to heat networks, swimming pools, greenhouses and residences.
The technical potential for large hydropower plants is 7,600 GWh, of which 62% of is currently used. There are 25 large hydropower plants already built with an installed
capacity of 2,446 MW. There is good opportunity to build more small hydropower plants.
The Slovak Republic is situated between 48 and 50 degrees north latitude. The solar radiation flux achieves a maximum of 1,100 kWh per m2, so that for half of the year it
receives 806 kWh/m2. The technical potential of solar energy has been estimated at 5,200 GWH annually, which is about 12.5 % of the total technical potential of renewable power sources in Slovakia.
Competitive Landscape:
Compared to its market share in other Central European countries, U.S. market share in Slovakia is relatively low. European competitors are already well-positioned in the Slovak market. Major Slovak business representatives indicate they would welcome U.S. suppliers because European (mainly German, Italian and French) companies can be insensitive to local market conditions.
U.S. suppliers often win international tenders in neighboring countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. U.S. companies can compete and win in similar conditions found in Slovakia. To be successful in Slovakia U.S. suppliers should have a branch office in Slovakia or in Europe. Positive references from Central European countries are highly valued.
Best Prospects for U.S. Exporters:
There are excellent U.S. export opportunities to supply renewable energy power plants. In 2018, Slovakia adopted a new clean energy and co-generation support scheme – introduced by an amendment to the Act on Support of Renewable Energy Sources and High Efficiency Combined Heat and Power (Act No. 309/2009 Coll). On February 4th 2020, the Slovak Economy Ministry launched the first auction soliciting bids for new producers of renewable energy (RES). Successful bidders will receive feed-in premium payments on top of the wholesale electricity price under 15-year power purchase agreements. The deadline for submitting bids is April 30, 2020.
The Slovak Economy Ministry will accept bids for photovoltaic facilities with installed capacity from 100KW to 2MW, while the installed capacity for biomass, biogas, landfill gas, wastewater gas, wind, water and geothermal energy facilities can range from 500 KW to 10 MW. The maximum price for generated electricity is 106.8 Eur/MWh for all sources except photovoltaic and wind; and 84.98 Eur/MWh for photovoltaic and wind producers. The lowest bid wins. The pilot auction will support a total of 30MW installed capacity. Much bigger auctions will be announced soon as the government has committed to introduce 1100MW of new solar and wind electricity producing facilities until 2030 (650 MW solar and 500 MW wind). All the necessary information (in Slovak) is posted here: https://www.economy.gov.sk/energetika/vyzva-na-predkladanie-ponuk-na-zariadenia-s-pravom-na-podporu.
The biomass segment offers good U.S. export potential in the renewable energy sector. U.S. exporters of technologies for growing, processing and burning biomass can offer their products and service to potential buyers. There was an attempt in the past to import wood pellets from the U.S., but because of high shipping costs, the final price was higher than average local price.
Geothermal energy also presents good export opportunities for U.S. companies. U.S. technologies and equipment for geothermal power plants, as well as drilling technologies, are recognized as the most efficient and advanced technologies in the world. Slovak companies seek 3D underground scanning systems, drilling rigs for drilling wells up to 6 km below the earth’s surface, ESG or equivalent technology for geothermal power plants, specialists to train local personnel for operation and maintenance of geothermal power plants, and consulting services for construction of geothermal power plant and production of electric power from geothermal sources.
U.S. producers of hydropower turbines and other equipment related in hydroelectricity production have a number of opportunities for competing on the local market. There is good promise in the following areas – there are over 250 locations selected as potential building sites for small hydropower plants on the rivers Danube, Vah, Hron, Bodrog and Hornad, and they could bring the total installed capacity to 130 MW. The Sered hydropower plant, with an installed capacity 52 MW, and other several small hydropower plants on the rivers Hron, Hornad, Vah and Poprad are also under construction.
Regulations / Registration Process:
The National Testing Center for certification of power generating equipment is the Electrotechnical Research and Design Institute (Elektrotechnicky skusobny a projektovy ustav a.s.) The testing center certifies cables, rectifiers, transformers, power supply sets, electric appliances for household use, industrial devices with operators, metallic and nonmetallic materials used in electronics, semiconductor compounds, conductors, communication devices, printing technology, transport and signaling technology, electric tools up to 1000 V, hand electric tools, air conditioning equipment and freezers, heating and cooking devices, electric music apparatus, vending machines and electronic cash registers.
Technical Barriers & Tariffs:
Foreign goods imported into Slovakia from non-EU countries are subject to customs inspection and imposition of customs duty, taxes, and import charges. Import and excise duties as well as value-added taxes are collected by the Slovak Customs Office after submission of a customs declaration for release of these goods into free circulation. The customs authorities collect both customs duties and value added tax (VAT) for imports. The VAT rate is 20 %. The licensing system is Slovakia’s primary non-tariff measure. The Ministry of Economy is authorized to issue import and export permits or licenses for sensitive goods with the objective of protecting the domestic market.
Natural resources may be regulated by automatic and non-automatic (obligatory) licenses. Non-automatic import licenses are required for water, black coal, brown coal, crude oil and natural gas, as well as beer. Automatic licenses are used for monitoring imports and as an early warning system of the need to introduce protection mechanisms.
Procurement & Tenders:
Slovak state-owned or public companies interested in purchasing power generating equipment issue a public tender with technical specifications. Private companies prefer to contact potential suppliers directly. They also may issue a public tender with technical specifications. Each public tender is published in Obchodny Vestnik magazine, which is issued by the Slovak Public Procurement Office.
Getting Paid / Trade Finance:
Slovak companies often finance purchases of power generation equipment through bank loans. Slovak companies also use performance contracting, which means that equipment is paid from savings. Generally, financing details are complex and set individually for each contract. A list of local Banks is available at The National Bank of Slovakia website.
U.S. Commercial Service Information:
The U.S. Commercial Service in Bratislava, Slovak Republic can be contacted via e-mail at: Bratislava.office.box@trade.gov;
Phone: +421 2 5922 3222;
Fax: +421 2 5922 3345;
Visit our website: www.trade.gov/slovakia
