Driving Sustainable Energy: Success Stories and Challenges of Community Energy in Slovakia
In Slovakia, energy communities are gradually gaining ground and interest in them is steadily growing. Raising awareness of energy communities was also the aim of a workshop held in Bratislava at the end of March 2025. The workshop was organised by the Slovak renewable energy umbrella association SAPI (Slovak Association of Sustainable Energy) and was made possible thanks to the EUKI-funded COMMENCE project. The project is designed to support the establishment of new RE-driven communities and raise awareness of the possibilities of community energy. Organised in close cooperation with the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA), the event attracted a wide range of professionals and enthusiasts who showed great interest in the field.
At the beginning of the event, SAPI presented the Handbook for Energy Community Founders, which has been missing in Slovakia until now. As a part of the COMMENCE project, the SAPI team, together with its professional partners consisting of an energy law firm, energy consultancy, energy community cluster and SIEA, prepared a comprehensive material covering all aspects of setting up an energy community in the country. The guideline is based on national legislation and provides the assurance to interested parties that their actions are in line with the legal framework.
Successful examples from practice as a source of inspiration
During the panel discussion, workshop participants had the opportunity to listen to the Mayor of the municipality of Modrovka, Vladimír Balaj, who shared his hands-on experience of setting up and managing an energy community. The community owns a solar PV system on the roof of a kindergarten. During the peak production period in the summer, the kindergarten is closed, so the community was looking for ways to use this energy directly in the village. It has set up an energy community and uses electricity from the PV for public lighting and the local water company. As well as highlighting the positive aspects of community energy, the mayor also suggested possible solutions to speed up its development. The state, he said, needs to play a bigger role and provide more support for community energy. The possibility of using EU funds could also help.
Energy communities will grow, but financial returns must improve
The participants in the discussion highlighted a number of current challenges in the establishment of energy communities. A major problem in Slovakia is the current decree of the energy regulator RONI, which states that all members of the energy community should have one supplier. This makes it difficult for new members to join existing communities. Insufficient financial support from the state is also an obstacle to development. Financial support is particularly important in a system with regulated electricity prices and distribution charges, which have a negative impact on the profitability of such projects.
Summing up most important aspects of the new energy legislation in Slovakia, 2025 © Boris Valach
Slovakia awaits new legislation
From 1 January 2026, legislative changes are expected to come into force that will have a positive impact on the operation of energy communities in Slovakia. “For example, the new legislation will bring an expanded definition of an active consumer, who becomes one not only by operating his own production or storage of electricity, but also by consuming shared electricity. The changes also include the introduction of a sharing organiser, which will provide services related to the management and operation of electricity generation and storage facilities, but also the actual management of electricity sharing, including internal billing. The consultation and advice that this new entity will provide will be of great help to municipal representatives,” explains Libor Láznička, member of the SAPI Executive Committee.
Energy communities are an important step towards more sustainable and secure energy mix and more self-sufficient communities. Their development in Slovakia depends not only on legislative changes, but also on the active support and cooperation of the state, professional organisations, municipalities and enthusiasts in this newly discovered element of the energy sector in Slovakia.
Handbook for Energy Community Founders (in Slovakia), 2025 © Lucia Smatana Palmanová
At the workshop, as mentioned above, SAPI also presented a new publication, Handbook for Energy Community Founders, which is freely available for download, but only in Slovak, as it focuses primarily on the Slovak context.