V skratke:
In regards of "new" types of energy, in Visegrad countries there are two main motivations to explore and exploit them: firstly EU's emmision and renewable target, secondly economy crisis and subsequent need for innovation and growth via funding energy research and development.

BACKGROUND

The economic crisis starting in winter 2006 has influenced investments in conventional as well as renewable energy sources. The region of Central and Eastern Europe, including Visegrad countries, was no exception and financing difficulties have caused a reduction in investments. According to KPMG, the ratio of electricity generation based on renewable energy resources including hydro power plants makes up 20%. Renewable energy generation is a rather new phenomena in CEE and it has been in the course since the beginning of this millennium and its ratio has doubled every second year.

Although the economic crisis has produced a downfall in the annual volume of project financing up to 50%, the renewable energy sector was hit by a recession of no more than 20%. The relatively low effect in the sector can be explained by the revenue structures, which are under strong government regulation. The renewable source based energy generation is especially competitive in the CEE countries due to the 20/20/20 binding targets on 20% cut in emission of greenhouse gases compared with 1990 levels and further cuts in energy consumptions and increase of the total share of renewable energy. In order to comply with the targets, the states governments have introduced subsidies and administrative dispositions for the investors. Furthermore, revenues and feed-in tariffs guaranteed by the state have been revalued and caused interest in the industry.

CZECH REPUBLIC

The Czech Republic's economy still heavily relies on coal. More than half (58% in 2005) of its electricity is produced in power plants based on solid fuels, which enable 42% of Czech final energy consumption. Two nuclear plants – Temelín and Dukovany bring one third of electricity.

The share of renewables is still marginal. They contributed to final energy consumption by 6,1% in 2005 and only 6,53% of electricity was produced from renewables in the middle of 2009. However, the Czech Republic is obliged to reach 8% share in electricity by 2010 (this goal is only „indicative“) and 13% share in final consumption by 2020.

According to experts, this might be a problem. Many of them blame current renewables support scheme which favours expansion of solar power. Next year, solar energy will get 40% of public money (some 3 bn. crowns) set aside for renewables while producing only 7% of renewable electricity, Czech distributors (ČSRES) claim. Experts insist that without reforming the existing scheme towards more balanced one, which would prefer energy sources with bigger potential (particularly biomass), we will not be able to fulfill EU obligations.

In general, producers of renewable electricity could profit from generous feed-in tariff system which guarantees them fix sale prices of their electricity for many years (from 15 to 25 years depending on the type of renewable). The Energy Regulatory Office could change those fix prices by 5% a year at most. However, provided that prices of fotovoltaic plants fell by some 50% during last two years, the rules need to be changed, energy experts say.

If we look into shares of individual renewables in Czech electricity production, we find biomass on the first place (33%) followed by water (27%) and wind (19%). Nevertheless, „green“ activists insist that it is more profitable to use biomass for heating than for electricity production. Most people familiar with energy sector say that biomass (either in electricity or heating) plays a key role in Czech efforts to get to 13% target by 2020. Potential of other renewables is very limited in Czech conditions, they say.

Investments in power grids relating to the expansion of renewables is another hot topic. Czech transmission system operator ČEPS warns that fast expansion of fotovoltaic plants led to lowering free capacity of transmission network. Moreover, it si threatened by German wind farms which overload Czech grids from time to time. Last case happened during this November when the network was not far from blackout. ČEPS invests some 4 billion crowns a year to improve the grids and to build new ones. However, its effort is seriously hindered by lengthy administrative process (according to ČEPS building a new grid requires 11 steps and could take up to 10 years). On the other hand, building a wind or a solar power plant could be a matter of months.

Speaking about low carbon future, nobody could avoid nuclear energy discussion. While people from the Ministry of Industry and Trade or ČEZ company see nuclear energy as the integral part of Czech energy mix, the Ministry of Environment and green activists claim that we can focus on renewables and get rid of nuclear. There is a lot of debate about energy sector future in Czech papers especially this autumn when the update of the Czech Energy Conception was published. (It contains some controversial proposals such as destroying another villages to get coal.)

Czech public is generally very tolerant of nuclear energy. More than 80 % of Czechs are in favour of expanding existing nuclear sites in Temelín and Dukovany and two thirds would support building a new plant. What is more, a number of nuclear fans is steadily rising and it has support of two biggest political parties (ODS and ČSSD). On the other hand, less than one third of Czechs would  back reopening of uranium mines in northern Bohem

Czech republic and Slovakia formed common federal state until 1993, so both they have the same starting line, when it comes to renewable energy and green growth. According to the analysis of Peter Kolesár from the Condole Partners, the Czech Republic has experienced a rapid growth in photovoltaic (PV) installations and wind projects; currently there are 133 MW of PV installations and 150 MW of wind turbines. However, Slovakia only has 200 kW of PV´s and 5 MW of wind turbines and the investments in renewable energy resources have been low. The main reasons for these differences are the following:

  1. Czech Republic has adopted a support scheme guaranteeing feed-in tariffs for 20 years or green bonuses paid together with the electricity price,
  2. presence of the Green Party in the parliament, which is actively proposing policies in renewable energy resources,
  3. pressure created by energy investors to lift the feed-in tariffs up.

Currently the Czech regulator ERÚ (Energy Regulatory Office) has proposed an amendment in the renewable energy law, which would enable a further decrease of feed-in tariffs for PV´s from the current 5% annual cut.

Contrary in Slovakia, the development of renewable energy resources policies has not been progressive due to lack of expertise and resources for analyzing actual renewable trends at the Ministry of Economy as well as the transmission system operator (SEPS – Slovak Electricity Transmission System). Only in spring 2009 a new renewable energy law was introduced in Slovakia and since then Slovakia has been becoming more attractive for projects and investments in renewable energy and caused a large number of requests for wind energy projects. However, SEPS has officially declared that the projects using renewable resources as wind or solar power have a negative impact on the stability of the retransmission system, because they are unpredictable and therefore they should be limited. Furthermore the expansion of renewable energy resources in Slovakia are also limited due to facts as that 23 % of Slovak territory are protected bird areas, renewables installations would cause higher electricity prices for consumers, disputes with land owners whose land is suitable for installations such those as well as complex processes that grant permits to distribution companies from the state.

Another insight in English on this can be found at EurActiv.com:

EU accession boosted Czech green business

HUNGARY

Five forms of renewable energy resources come into consideration in Hungary: Wind power, Biomass, Geothermal energy, Solar and water power. These resources receive few recognition, however, the rate of renewable energy is increasing every year in the country’s energy mix.

Renewable energy gives currently 5 percent of the energy mix of Hungary. However, this small part is mainly based on wood. To reach the objective of 20 percent until 2020 at the EU level, which was pinpointed in the EU climate package adopted in December 2008, the renewable-rate has to be increased to 13 percent in Hungary.

According to the Hungarian NGO, Energy Club (Energia Klub), Hungary’s “renewable potential” can not be determined unequivocally as the relevant researches have been taken on very different bases and they are not always taking into consideration technical development.

The broadest measurements were taken by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences during 2005 and 2006, nevertheless these data are showing “theoretical potential” that does not count with practical aspects.

It is widely accepted that the country possesses a huge renewable energy potential but researches – taking also technological and economical aspects into consideration - scatter from 100 PJ/year to 1300 PJ/year, in contrast with Hungary’s primer energy consumption, that makes around a 1000 PJ/year.

Currently, decision makers put their voice behind biomass, Energy Club claims. In the governmental strategy for renewable energy, biomass is planned to overwhelmingly rule Hungarian renewable energy mix (131 PJ from 186 PJ until 2020).

While solar and wind could also be a reliable energy resource, geothermal energy is one of the big chances of Hungary, green organizations repeatedly say. Theoretically it is possible to use the heat of the Earth everywhere in the country. Exploitation is even possible in natural reserves, but also in urban spaces.

At the beginning of 2010 a socialist type block-house received a heat-system fed with geothermal energy. This was the first such project in the country and even some legislation has to be amended to successful realization.

Legislative aspects often prove to be an obstacle for renewable energy projects, which led to a campaign for a Hungarian climate legislation. The Hungarian National Society of Conservationists (NSC) together with the Hungarian Sustainable Energy Council recently (21st January 2010) accepted the draft text, and handed it over to the National Parliament.

EurActiv.com: Hungarian climate law postponed over job concerns

POLAND

Poland produces over 90% of its electricity from coal. The rest of energy supply is derived from gas (3%) and renewable sources (3,8%). There is no nuclear power plant in Poland yet - which is quite exceptional for Europe. According to the new UE directive on renewable energy, the country’s share in all energy production will have to reach 15% in 2020 (as a matter of comparison: the goal for Sweden is 49% and for Latvia: 42%).

Polish green energy is produced mainly from water (small plants), and small amounts from solid biomass, biogas and solar radiation. The country has significant potential in solid biomass, biogas and wind. Even though Poland is obliged to fulfill UE directive requirements, the development of renewable energy production does not proceed smoothly. The investments connected to renewables usually have a long pay-off period and require stable legal circumstances. Unclear fiscal regulations and lack of coherent legal interpretations of tax rules on real estate make the investors’ lives hard. The access to the information on legal procedures and on costs of investments (vital at the early stage of decision making) is not easy either. Moreover, there are not enough teaching programs on the subject at school and not enough trainings for engineers, designers, bank employees or decision makers.

The monotype of energy production gives a clear reason to a need for a diversification of energy sources. Scientist, ecologists and politicians begin to share the opinion that Poland is bound to use the nuclear energy. In September this year, during the Fair of Mining, Energy and Metallurgy in Katowice (Silesia) Jerzy Buzek, the president of the European Parliament (and a Pole), said that “[…] the diversification of energy sources is a must. We received huge support from the EU for the modernization of the coal energy sector, but that does not mean that there is no space for nuclear energy. Its miserable image related to the Chernobyl tragedy is now a matter of past. The climate changes result in the fact that the world is now more inclined towards ‘atom’ than before - also because it has become safe.” Mentioning Chernobyl, a disaster that happened near Poland’s border, Buzek addressed a well planted (but fading) trauma in the society.

Hanna Trojanowska, the governments plenipotentiary for nuclear energy, says that that the country’s demand for energy will increase by 57% by the year 2020. “Investing in nuclear energy is therefore a matter of necessity”, claims she, and adds “first, we must prepare the infrastructure, organize scientific background and adopt proper atomic law”. The government assumes that the first nuclear plant will start operation in 2020 and another after one or two years. Since the information campaign is a vital thing, a team of experts has been assigned, which will address questions and objections coming from people and institutions. Trojanowska quotes the results of public opinion polls which show that “already a half of the society is convinced that nuclear energy is a good thing”. And she adds: “the factors that work to the advantage of it are: low production costs, no carbon dioxide as a by-product and the availability of raw materials in politically stable world regions”. Other opinion polls confirm the government plenipotentiary’s standpoint. one of them, quoted by “Rzeczpospolita” shows that the percentage of opponents decreased from 56% to 42% within last year.

EurActiv.com: Poland ranks low on clean tech investments

SLOVAKIA

Energy mix of Slovakia is quite heterogenous. The majority of energy consumption is covered by two nuclear plants - in Jaslovské Bohunice and Mochovce and this files Slovakia into the group of nuclear power based countries. Regarding the electricity production, nuclear power plants produce about 55 %. The nuclear sources of energy are followes by gas and fossil fuels and finally renewable sources. The total share of generated electricity using fossil sources counts for more that one fifth. The important fact is that Slovakia uses 16 % of energy produced from renewables, especially from hydro-power facil

Renewable energy resources in Slovakia currently cover about 16 % of electricity consumption. The most relevant source still remains hydro-electric power (53,76% of renewables share.) However the most perspective one is biomass that could potentially be used to produce more electricity in the future. Currently biomass covers 38,61 % among the renewables in Slovakia. There is significant gap after these two main renewable energy resources - the other ones, specifically wind, solar power and geothermal energy are still considered marginal for several reasons, especially the lower cost-effectiveness and relatively low level technology of technology advancement. The next obstacle, when it comes to support of wind or solar, is the absence of complex and sustainable scheme of financial support. Moreover wind generators are not very suitable for Slovakia because of bad wind conditions and location of many environmentally protected national parks. Although solar power can be widely used in peoples' households during summertime, there had been no legislative state support scheme for solar systems till 2009 . All in all, Slovakia lags behind the other Visegrad as well as European countries in matter of exploiting the solar collectors' potential.

Energy strategy adopted by Slovak government in 2006 predicts 19 % share of renewables in total electricity mix by the end of 2010 and 24 % by the end of 2020. On the other hand, environmental movements like Greenpeace claim that development in this area is much slower than the overall potential.

Just for information, Slovakia declared in 2004 the share of renewables on level of 31 %, when it would come to energy production in 2010. The very last three governments faild to fulfill this promise, given just before entering into the EU, even though the promise was only “indicative“.

"From the application process concerning new connections of renewable sources we assume that an energy policy review should be undertaken in order to establish a clearer prioritization of connections of various sources.  The overwhelming dominance of fotovoltaic projects (in ZSE delivery area they represent 435 MW of installed capacity from 650MW of all appliccation to date) shows that quantity of projects wins over the real capacity of stable and reliable power generation," speaks Mr. Jan Orlovsky, Director of Central Affairs at Zapadoslovenska energetika, a.s. - the member of E.ON group.

In Slovakia a new legal framework supporting investments renewable energy resources has came into effect in Spring 2009 and since then has boosted its attractiveness for investors.

As a part of economy recovery package, the Slovakian government agreed a year ago it would promote installation of renewable energy sources. For this, it allocated the additional budget of 100 million EUR as support for biomass boilers and solar collector’s installation, which had been the general targets of plan for renewables from 2007. The first call for proposals appeared in April 2009. Buildings’ owners and renters can apply for financial contribution also in this year. The partial budget for public funding in 2010 has the volume of 8 million EUR.

Since the program started, Ministry of Economy has received 1.500 applications. More than 80 percent were the applications for support for the solar collectors’ installations.

The National center for research and application of renewable energy sources was founded in June 2009 with the financial support from the EU. It is the very first centre of excellence in Slovakia, which was opened by Ludovit Jelemensky and Frantisek Janicek both from the Slovak Technical University. This centre is one of the few in Slovakia, if not the only one, which focuses on renewable and new sources of energy at a top academic level in cooperation with private companies.

The primary research topics are biomass, solar energy and hydro energy resources.

When opened the centre, Ludovit Jelemensky and Frantisek Janicek agreed that the recent events increasingly point to the need for a reevaluation of the present approach towards power engineering and the need to focus on renewable energy sources. Those represent environmentally acceptable solutions in line with the visions of a long-term sustainable development.

“We want to be a small research institute providing consultant services for small and medium entrepreneurs, agricultural cooperatives, who would be interested in using renewable sources,” says F. Janicek, vice-rector of STU when speaking about the goals of the center of excellence. Other aims of the center include networking top scientific teams; providing the research with top equipment and efficient computer techniques.

Other examples of innovative R&D of renewable energy are three projects granted by EU money, but administrated by private companies. This is the case of developing the new robotic platform for ultra deep drilling, primarily geothermal, but secondary hydrocarbon as well.

The main obstacle for exploiting the capacity of geothermal power is the exponential growth of drilling costs, if the wells are deeper than 5-6 kilometers. Slovakian Ministry of Education allocated approximately 2.7 million EUR from EU Structural Funds as a support for ULTRADRILL technology, the robotic platform of Slovak based Geothermal Anywhere. The substantial difference between ULTRADRILL and traditional methods of ultra deep drilling is the selected method of rock disintegration; classical contact bits are replaced by contact-less plasma jets, which have a multiple destructive effect.

The technological concept already exists in the form of an operating electronic virtual design and the prototype is under development, writes the company on geothermania.com.

Despite the fact that government understands that it is in Slovakia's best interest to support energy that comes from renewable resources, these probably still remain only  supplementary forms of energy. They can't replace more traditional methods, more specifically energy that comes from nuclear sources.

Slovakia has two nuclear power plants, in Mochovce and Jaslovske Bohunice. There is a lot of controversy and public discussion that surrounds this source of power. One point of view, that is backed by Slovak government, considers nuclear power as a very clean and steady source of energy for the future. The other view, which represents more environmental spectrum, of people find nuclear energy non-environmental friendly. Their main arguments go towards nuclear waste and its danger consequences for nature and people. According to them, there is also heavy financial burden for state's budget to finance power plants.

In addition, Slovakia permanently faces strong opposition from Austria against nuclear power plants. Anti-nuclear agenda by Austria is even stronger because Jaslovske Bohunice plant is located less than 200 km far from Vienna. When joining EU in 2004, Slovakia voluntarily agreed to put block V1 of Jaslovske Bohunice out of operation. This became the reality in 2008.

Slovakia belongs to group of nuclear-power based countries. Although there is a great potential of renewables, the final share still doesn't live up to the possible expectations.

Slovak Gas Enterprise (SPP), the dominant gas distributor in Slovakia and joint venture of Slovak government, E.ON Ruhrgas and Gaz de France, had started the program for support the CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) as an alternative clean motor-fuel of the future. “In the long run, SPP supports the use of natural gas for fueling vehicles and it has really good reasons for that,” states the company on its CNG website. “When using compressed natural gas for powering the vehicles, there are not created mechanical impurities, the fuel does not smell, the vehicle produces 60 – 80% less gaseous emissions,” adds SPP.

Regarding the promotional program, there are two lines. The first is the promotion of CNG as an fuel in public transport in big Slovakian cities, the second one represents the support as well as financial contribution for citizens considering they would buy personal vehicle running on bi-fuel engine, where one of the fuels is the CNG.

EurActiv.com: Slovakia catching up on green technologies

© Visegrad 2009-2012. Všetky práva vyhradené.