离开俄罗斯的斯洛伐克能源市场

COUNTRYREPORTSLOVAKIA

VeronikaOravcová

EnergyWithoutRussia

TheConsequencesoftheUkrainewarandthe

EUSanctionsontheEnergySectorinEurope

FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG–POLITICSFOREUROPE

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Abouttheauthor

VeronikaOravcováworksasanSFPA(SlovakForeignPolicyAssociation)ana-

lystandscienceandresearchfellowattheDepartmentofPoliticalScienceof

theComeniusUniversityinBratislava.Shedealswiththeissueofenergytransi-

tionandenergysecurityinCentralandEasternEurope.Sheistheco-authorof

thebookFromEconomictoEnergyTransition.ThreeDecadesofTransitionsin

CentralandEasternEurope(Palgrave:London,2021).

1

VeronikaOravcová

EnergyWithoutRussia:

TheCaseofSlovakia

TheConsequencesoftheUkraineWarandtheEUSanctionsontheEnergySectorinEurope

INTRODUCTION8

1SLOVAKIA’SENERGYSYSTEM

BEFOREFEBRUARY20223

2ADHOCRESPONSESAFTERFEBRUARY20226

3MAINCONSEQUENCESOFTHECONFLICT

ANDSANCTIONSSOFAR8

4MEDIUM-ANDLONG-TERMANSWERS10

5FORESEEABLECONSEQUENCESWITHREGARD

TOEUCLIMATEGOALS/TARGETS?12

BeforetheoutbreakofRussianinvasioninUkraineinFebru-ary2022SlovakiawasfullydependentonRussianenergyimports.Slovakiawasalmost100%dependentonRussianimportsofnaturalgas,oil,andnuclearfuel.Thecountryal-soimportedRussiancoal,accountingforaroundonethirdofsolidfuelsimports.AftertheinvasionSlovakiabegantodiversifyitsnaturalgassuppliers,andsofarithassucceed-edinsubstitutingaroundonethirdofRussiangas.InFebru-ary2022SlovakiacontractedthefirstLNGimport.Diversifi-cationeffortshavecontinued,andthecountryhasconclud-edseveralnewcontractswithdifferentsuppliers.Coalisim-portant,especiallyforSlovakindustry(USSteel),whichal-readyendedRussiancoalsuppliesinApril2022.

Inthecaseofoilandnuclearfuel,thecountrywaslesssuc-cessful.SlovakiastillprocessesRussianoilattheSlovnaftre-fineryandimportsnuclearfuelfromtheRussiancompanyTVEL.However,bothsectorshavebeenadjustingtheirusetootherthanRussiansources.SlovnaftistryingtodecreaseitsdependenceonRussianoilbyupto60%in2023andhasbeenadjustingitstechnologiesforprocessingdifferenttypesofoil.ThesubstitutionofRussiannuclearfuelismorecomplicatedduetocertificationprocesses;however,bytheendoftheyearthecompanySlovenskéelektrárne,whichoperatesnuclearpowerplants,willhavelaunchedatenderfornewsuppliers.

FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG–POLITICSFOREUROPE2

INTRODUCTION

EU

Lithuania Slovakia HungaryNetherlands Greece Finland* Poland Germany Latvia Croatia* BelgiumItaly

Czechia Estonia*Denmark*Slovenia*Romania* Austria* Bulgaria SwedenFrance

Spain

Malta PortugalLuxembourgIreland

Cyprus

Figure1

ImportsfromRussiaingrossavailableenergy,EU,2020

0%20%40%60%80%100%

Source:Eurostat,Includingestimatesfornon-reporteddataforcountrieswith*

SLOVAkIA’SENERGySySTEMBEFOREFEBRUARy20223

1

SLOVAKIA’SENERGYSYSTEM

BEFOREFEBRUARY2022

TheenergysectorinSlovakiareliesespeciallyonnaturalgas,oil,andnuclearpower(seeTable1).DomesticproductionofoilandnaturalgasarenegligibleandthecountryimportsthesesourcesthroughtheDruzhbaandBrotherhoodpipe-lines.Themaindomesticsourcesofenergyarerenewables(dominatedmainlybybiomassandhydroproduction)andbrowncoal.Asforthedegreeofdependenceonthirdcoun-tries,Slovakiaishighlydependentonallthemainenergysources,withRussiabeingthemainsupplier:beforetheoutbreakoffull-scalewar,Slovakiaimportednuclearfuel,naturalgas,andoilfromRussia.

Coalisusedespeciallyinindustry(steelproduction),butal-soelectricitygenerationandtheheatingsector.Thecountryisheadingtowardsacoalphase-out,asin2023statesubsi-

diesfortheproductionofelectricityfromdomesticcoalwillend,whichbasicallyalsomeanstheendofcoalmininginSlovakia.

Oiliscrucialnotonlyforthetransportsector,butalsoforin-dustry(seeFigure3).

OildeliveriesareprovidedbyRussia.1Slovakiahasonerefin-ery–Slovnaft–locatedinthecapitalcity,Bratislava,produc-ingarangeofproducts,mainlymotorfuels,fordomesticconsumptionandforexporttoneighbouringcountries(es-

1IntegratedNationalEnergyandClimatePlanfor2021to2030(2019).EuropeanCommission:

https://energy.ec.europa.eu/system/files/

2020-03/sk_final_necp_main_en_0.pdf

Figure2

ImportsfromRussiainenergysupplybeforethewar(2021)

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0

CoalNaturalgasNuclearfuelCrudeoil

Source:StatisticalOfficeoftheSlovakRepublic,Eurostat

Table1

Totalenergysupplybyproduct(2021;inktoe)

Natural

gas

4,551.1

26%

Nuclear

4,051.1

23%

Oiland

petroleumproducts

3,714.4

21%

Solidfossilfuels

2,823.3

16%

Renewablesandbiofuels

2,325.1

13%

Non-renewablewaste

273

1%

Source:Eurostat

FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG–POLITICSFOREUROPE4

Figure3

Finalenergyconsumptionbysector(2021;inktoe)

5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0

3,382.4

2,966.3

2,619.3

1,408.4

IndustryHouseholdTransportCommercial

Source:Eurostat

peciallyCzechia).SlovnafthasbeenpartoftheHungarianMOLGroupsince2004.Slovakiaisalsodependentonnat-uralgasimportsandhasverylimiteddomesticproductionthatcoversaround1%ofoverallconsumption.Domesticproductionhasbeengraduallyfalling.Thebulkofgascon-sumptionismostlyusedforheatingandelectricitygenera-tioninthesteelandironindustries,andalsoasafeedstockinthechemicalandpetrochemicalindustries.Currently,aroundthreequartersofSlovakmunicipalitiesareconnect-edtothegasinfrastructure,whichaccountsformorethan94%ofallinhabitantsofSlovakia.Gasisthepredominantheatingsourceinmorethan1.48millionapartments,whichaccountsfor66.2%ofallapartments,whileover68%ofhousesareconnectedtothegasinfrastructure.2

Nuclearisthemostimportantsourceinelectricitygenera-tion(seeFigure4).Nuclearpowerplantsarelocatedattwosites,inMochovceandJaslovskéBohunice.TwoblocksoftheMochovcepowerplantwereputintooperationin1998and1999withananticipatedlifetimeof50–60years.BlocksoftheBohuniceV2powerplantwereputintooper-ationin1985and1986andshouldbeoperationalby2045.

2Plynakoprevažujúcizdrojnavykurovanievyužíva66,2percentaby-tov(2022).Trend:

https://www.trend.sk/spravy/plyn-ako-prevazuju-

ci-zdroj-vykurovanie-vyuziva-66-2-percenta-bytov

TheBohunicepowerplantalsosuppliesheattonearbytowns.In2023,block3oftheMochovcepowerplantwascompletedandputinoperation3andcurrentlyblock4isplannedtobecommissioned.Afterputtingblock4intoop-erationSlovakiawillhavesixnuclearblockswithatotalin-stalledcapacityof2,880MW.

Fornuclearfuel,SlovakiaisdependentonRussia.In2018,Slovenskéelektrárnecompany(whichoperatesnuclearpowerplants)signedacontractforthesupplyofnuclearfu-elwithRussiancompanyTVEL.Thecontractisvalidforthe2022–2026period,withtheoptionofextensionto2030,andallowsprogrammesfortheintroductionofnuclearfuelfromalternativesuppliers.AmericanWestinghousewasalsopartofthetender,butitofferedahigherpriceandthere-foretheTVELcompanywaschosen.Pricewasthemaincri-terionofthetenderandaspectsofenergysecurityhavenotbeenconsideredandaddressedproperly.4

3TretíblokMochovieczvýšilvýkonna35%(2023).Slovenskéelek-trárne:

https://www.seas.sk/tlacove-spravy/treti-blok-mochoviec-zvy-

sil-vykon-na-35/

4M.Hudec,Expertnajadrovéelektrárne:Pridodávateľovipalivabysmesanemalidívaťlennacenu(2022).Euractiv:

https://euractiv.sk/section/

energetika/news/expert-na-jadrove-elektrarne-pri-dodavatelovi-paliva-

by-sme-sa-nemali-divat-len-na-cenu/

Figure4

Netelectricityproduction(2021;inGWh)

15,000

10,000

5,000

0

14,570

8,071

4,086

671

5

NuclearCombustibleHydroSolarWind

Source:Eurostat

SLOVAkIA’SENERGySySTEMBEFOREFEBRUARy20225

Theroleofcoalintheoverallenergymixhasbeengradual-

lydecreasing.DomesticproductionintheUpperNitrare-

giondoesnotcovercoaldemand,domesticcoalisuncom-

petitive,andthesectorishighlydependentonstatesubsi-

dies,whicharetoendin2023.Asforcoal-firedpower

plants,theNovákypowerplant(UpperNitraregion)andthe

Vojanypowerplant(EasternSlovakia)arecurrentlyinoper-

ation.TheUpperNitraregionisaminingregionthathas

beenincludedamongthe14pilotregionsacrosstheEUthat

aretoundergotransitiontowardsapost-coaleconomyand

hasalsobecomepartoftheJustTransformationMecha-

nism.Supportforelectricitygenerationfromcoalandlignite

willbeabolishedinaccordancewiththeActionPlanforthe

TransformationoftheUpperNitraCoalRegionapprovedby

theSlovakGovernmentin2019.TheNovákypowerplant,

afteritstransformationfromsolidfossilfuels,willremain

theprimaryheatsourcefortheregion.InthecaseoftheVo-

janypowerplant,itstransformationtowardsusingsolidsec-

ondaryfuelisbeingconsidered,alongwithsupportforthe

circulareconomyintheregion.Since2009biomassinform

ofwoodchipshasalsobeenaddedtothefuelsupply.5

Renewablesaredominatedbybiomassthatiscrucialinthe

heatingsector,andhydro,whichisakeyrenewableenergy

sourceinelectricitygeneration.Thecountryislaggingbe-

hindinthedevelopmentofwindenergy(havingonlyfive

turbines),solar,andgeothermalaswell(seethefinalsection

belowforamoredetaileddiscussion).AccordingtoEurostat

data,theshareofenergyfromrenewableenergysources

stoodat17%in2021.

5Vojanypowerplants(2022).Slovenskéelektrárne:

https://www.seas.

sk/elektraren/elektrarne-vojany/

FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG–POLITICSFOREUROPE6

2

ADHOCRESPONSESAFTERFEBRUARY2022

Russia’sinvasionofUkraineinFebruary2022revealedthevulnerabilityoftheCentralEuropeanregionintheenergysector,whiletwoproblemshavebeenfullyexposed:first,dependenceonthirdcountriesinenergy(whichwasthecaseofSlovakia)andsecond,amoreintenseuseofdomes-ticfossilfuelsunderminingtheEUclimategoals(forinstancePoland).TheimmediatereactionoftheEUanditsmemberstateswasunprecedenteddiversification,especiallyinthegasandoilsectors.Currently,thereisastrongneedtofur-therdiversifyexistingenergyroutesandsuppliers,butitisimportanttofocusondecarbonisationandenergyefficien-cymeasures.TheRussianinvasionofUkrainehighlightstheneedtodecouplenotonlyfromRussianenergysources,butfromfossilfuelsingeneral,whichischallengingatboththepoliticalandtechnologicallevels.

NATURALGAS

In2022SlovakiabegantodecreaseitsdependenceonRus-siabydiversificationofenergysuppliers,especiallyinthenaturalgassector.However,itmustbenotedthatthesede-batesondiversificationinthecountryarenotentirelynew.Thesediscussionswerealreadyonthetablein2009duringthegascrisis.SlovakiahasbeenamongthecountriesthatwerehitthehardestbythecuttingoffofsuppliesthroughUkraine.Sincethecountrywascompletelyunpreparedforthissituation,intermsofphysicalinfrastructureseveraldi-versificationprojectshavebeenintroducedsincethenun-dertheumbrellaoftheEUinitiativeprojectsofCommonIn-terest.6Slovakiahasnowbeenconnectedtoallitsneigh-boursincludinginterconnectionprojectswithHungary,andreverse-flowprojectsfromtheCzechRepublic,Ukraine,andAustria.Thecountryhasalsodevelopedundergroundgasstoragesites.ThelastprojectwasthePolish-SlovakgasinterconnectorthatwasputinoperationinNovember2022,gainingaccesstothePolishLNGterminalinŚwinou-jŚcie.However,despiteallofthebuildingupofinfrastruc-ture,themainsupplierhasremainedthesame:Russia.Therefore,since2022themainmeasuresinthenaturalgassectorhavebeendedicatedtothediversificationofenergysuppliers.

6ProjectsofCommonInterest(2013).EuropeanCommission:

https://en

-

ergy.ec.europa.eu/topics/infrastructure/projects-common-interest_en

SPP(Slovakia’slargestgassupplier)hasconcludedcontractsonNorwegiangasandalsoLNGforthefirsttimeandcon-sideredtakingashareinLNGterminalsinthecountriesoftheBalticSea.DespiteinitialestimatesbytheMinistryofEconomythatSlovakiacouldcovertwothirdsofitsnaturalgasimportswithnon-Russiansources,7bytheendoftheyeararound60%ofnaturalgaswasstillcomingfromRus-sia.8Therehavealsobeenseveralnegotiationsattheminis-terialleveltogainaccesstoLNGfromQatar,Asia,Africa,andtheUnitedStates.9Diversificationeffortshavecontin-ued,andSPPsignedaMemorandumofUnderstandingwithItaliancompaniesENI,Snam,andEnel10andGermanRWE11oncommercialcooperationinthegasandLNGsector.TheItalianMemorandumwasalsodiscussedduringthevisitofItalianPresidentSergioMatarellainSlovakiawithhiscoun-terpartPresidentZuzanaČaputová.

Diversificationeffortshavebeenmoresuccessfulthanemer-gencysuppliesandmeasurestoeconomise.SlovakiahasbeenfailingtoaddressproperenergyefficiencymeasuresanddespitetherehavingbeenariskofgasshortagesinEu-ropebeforetheheatingseason(2002/2023,withthenexttwowintersalsobeingcritical),Slovakiawasnotabletoconcludesolidarityagreementswithitsneighbouringcoun-triesthatwouldprovideemergencygassupplies.TheEUcountriesagreedtoreducegasconsumptionbyatleast15percentbetweenAugust1,2022,andMarch31,2023,aspartoftheREPowerEUagreementinCouncilRegulation(EU)2022/1369oncoordinatedgasdemand-reductionmeasureswithintheSaveGasforaSafeWinterinitiative.Severalcountrieshavemanagedtogetopt-outs,including

7Sulík:SPPpodpísalnovýkontraktnaplyn,ktorýpokryje65%spot-reby(2022).TASR:

https://www.teraz.sk/slovensko/spp-podpisal-zmlu-

vu-na-dodavku-norske/636585-clanok.html

8D.FuntíkováandT.Grečko,ZmluvasGazpromomplatídoroku2034,dovtedymusímezaruskýplynplatiť,hovoríšéfSPP(2023).DenníkN:

https://e.dennikn.sk/3210323/zmluva-s-gazpromom-plati-do-roku-

2034-dovtedy-musime-za-rusky-plyn-platit-hovori-sef-spp/?ref=inm&_

ga=2.147535031.1253148166.1682318304-1258735783.1661247989

9korčokrokovalvkatareajododávkachskvapalnenéhoplynu(2022).Trend:

https://www.trend.sk/spravy/mzvez-korcok-rokoval-katare-aj-do-

davkach-skvapalneneho-plynu

10SPPpodpísalmemorandáskľúčovýmispoločnosťamitalianskejenerge-tiky(2023).TASR:

https://www.teraz.sk/ekonomika/spp-podpisal-mem-

oranda-s-klucovymi/709091-clanok.html

11SPPpodpísalsnemeckouspoločnosťouRWEmemorandumoporozu-mení(2023).SPP:

https://www.spp.sk/spp-podpisal-s-nemeckou-spoloc-

nostou-rwe-memorandum-o-porozumeni/

ADHOCRESPONSESAFTERFEBRUARy20227

Slovakiabecauseofthesizeofitsindustrialsectorandsuffi-cientgasstoragelevels.12However,inApril2023Eurostatreleasedadocumentshowingthatnaturalgasconsumptionhaddroppedby17.7percentfromAugust2022toMarch2023intheEU.AllthecountrieswereabletosavegaswiththeexceptionofIreland(–0.2%),Slovakia(–1.0%),Spain(–10.8%),Poland(–12.5%),Slovenia(–13.8%),Belgium(–14.5%),andMalta,whichactuallysawa12.7%increase.13Severalstateinstitutionslaunchedtheirowninformationenergysavingcampaigns,forexampletheSlovakInnovationandEnergyAgencytogetherwiththeMinistryofEconomyandagovernmentofficewhichprovidedtipsonhowtore-ducehouseholdandofficeenergybills.TheMinistryofEn-vironmentcameupwiththeowninitiative,settingasavingstargetof15percentandissuingenergysavingguidelinesforpublicbuildings,14butdespitethemonthlyreportingcommitment,thereisnodatamonitoringandtheamountofsavingsarenotbeingtracked.

ofSlovakia’snuclearpowerplants–JaslovskéBohuniceandMochovce–issuppliedbytheRussiancompanyTVEL.Theneedforfueldiversificationonlybegantobedebatedprop-erlyin2022,followingthearrivalinMarchofRussianplanescarryingfuelforthenuclearpowerplantsdespitetheEU’sandthegovernment’sdecisiontoclosetheairspace.Untilthenthepriceofthenuclearfuelhadbeenthedecidingfac-tor,withoutconsideringsafetyandsupplierreliability.Forexample,AmericanWestinghousehasbeentestingnuclearfueldesignedforVVER440reactors(foundinSlovakiaandotherEUcountries–Bulgaria,Hungary,FinlandandtheCzechRepublic).FueldiversificationhasbecomeapriorityfortheMinistryofEconomy,andin2022Slovenskéelek-trárneinitiatedatenderforanuclearfuelsupplier;18howev-er,theprocessofcertificationofnewnuclearfuelwilltakeseveralyears.

OILSECTOR

Similartothenaturalgassector,the2009gascrisisalso

broughtseverallessonswithregardtotheoilsector.The

mainprojectwastheconnectionoftheDruzhbapipeline

(fromRussiathroughBelarusandUkrainetoSlovakia)to

theAdriapipeline,thusalsoconnectingSlovakiatoCroatia

andgainingaccesstotheOmišaljterminal.Althoughthe

projectwascompletedin2015andtheSlovnaftrefinery

begantotestnon-Russianoilbackin2016,15therefinery

hasstillnotsubstitutedRussianoil.ThereforetheDruzhba

pipelinewasnotincludedinthesixthpackageoftheEU

sanctionstowardsRussia,whichgainedtimeforSlovakiato

addresstherefinerytechnologicalproblemswithoilpro-

cessing.16(Seethenextsectionfordetaileddiscussionon

oilsanctions.)However,Slovnafthasannouncedthatithas

startedtoprocessoilfromArabcountriesandtheCaspian

Seaandexpectstoprocessaround30–40%ofnon-Rus-

sianoilin2023.

NUCLEARFUEL

Foryears,nuclearhasbeenconsideredadomesticenergy

sourceinCentralandEasternEuropeancountries,although

thefuelisimportedfromthirdcountries.17Thefuelforboth

12CouncilRegulation(EU)2022/1369of5August2022oncoordinateddemand-reductionmeasuresforgas(2022).OfficialJournaloftheEu-ropeanUnion

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/1369/oj

13

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/DDN-

20230419-1

14Verejnásprávaidepríkladom(2022).MinistryofEnvironmentoftheSlovakRepublic:

https://www.minzp.sk/files/aktuality/verejna-spra-

va-ide-prikladom.pdf

15Slovnaftsachystátestovaťinúnežruskúropu(2022).SITA:

https://

www.energia.sk/slovnaft-sa-chysta-testovat-inu-nez-rusku-ropu/

16O.Világi,Akojetoskapacitou(2022).HNOnline:

https://hnonline.sk/

komentare/komentare/96017670-ako-je-to-s-kapacitou

17J.OsičkaandF.Černoch,Anatomyofablacksheep:TherootsoftheCzechRepublic’spro-nuclearenergypolicy,EnergyResearch&SocialScience,2017,27,pp.9–13.

18Vymeniaslovenskéatómkyruskéhododávateľajadrovéhopaliva?Signálovpribúda,takskorotovšaknebude(2023).Zoznam:

https://ope

-

niazoch.zoznam.sk/energetika/vymenia-slovenske-atomky-ruskeho-do-

HYPERLINK"https://openiazoch.zoznam.sk/energetika/vymenia-slovenske-atomky-ruskeho-dodavatela-jadroveho-paliva-signalov-pribud