Slovak Republic 2024
Energy Policy Review
About this report
Government action plays a pivotal role in ensuring secure and sustainable energy transitions and combatting the climate crisis. Energy policy is critical not just for the energy sector but also for meeting environmental, economic and social goals. Governments need to respond to their country’s specific needs, adapt to regional contexts and help address global challenges. In this context, the International Energy Agency (IEA) conducts Energy Policy Reviews to support governments in developing more impactful energy and climate policies.
This Energy Policy Review was prepared in partnership between the Government of the Slovak Republic and the IEA. It draws on the IEA's extensive knowledge and the inputs of expert peers from IEA member countries to assess the Slovak Republic’s most pressing energy sector challenges and provide recommendations on how to address them, backed by international best practices. The report also highlights areas where the Slovak Republic’s leadership can serve as an example in promoting secure clean energy transitions. It also promotes the exchange of best practices among countries to foster learning, build consensus and strengthen political will for a sustainable and affordable clean energy future.
Online table of contents
Key recommendations
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Advance the preparation of the climate law to enshrine the net zero emissions by 2050 target in law and mandate the preparation of sectoral climate plans, which would include energy production and hard-to-abate sectors.
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Establish a high-level steering committee to monitor and evaluate progress in the implementation of the energy and climate strategy to ensure that the Slovak Republic meets its 2030 energy and climate targets and climate neutrality by 2050.
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Streamline and shorten the planning consent regime so that the investments in renewables, electricity networks, energy infrastructure and other clean energy technologies needed for the energy transition are delivered in a timely manner.
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Ensure that a sufficiently sized and skilled workforce is available to meet the needs of the energy transitions. Establish a national programme of education and training for future nuclear workforce development.
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Incentivise efficient energy consumption by expediting the adoption of the definition of energy poverty and designing and implementing measures to protect those defined as energy-poor and provide support through the social system or through building sector upgrading programmes.
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Develop a dedicated, predictable and transparent energy R&D strategy, with explicitly defined goals and targets to enable fair competition among research institutions, including the robust and transparent allocation of funding.
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Increase financing for innovations in energy, assess new technologies, and make more targeted use of the EU Green Deal and its funding mechanisms.
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Identify and harness international co-operation opportunities such as the IEA Technology Collaboration Programmes and focus on new research topics, such as hydrogen and variable renewables.