1. Introduction
The European Union has been promoting the generation of energy from renewable energy sources (hereinafter also refered to as “RES”) for years and has committed Member States to achieving certain targets. The target of the Republic of Slovenia for 2020 was 25% renewable energy in final energy consumption, with a target of at least 27% by 2030. These targets are set to rise further with the update of the Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources1 as part of the “Fit for 55” package2, which signifies the urgent need to take important and significant steps in this direction.
In order to achieve such ambitious targets, the Council of the European Union has adopted targeted measures in Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2577 on laying down a framework to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy3 (“Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2577“), which aim to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy sources in the European Union in the short term, including through the rapid deployment of new renewable energy installations4.
Significant barriers preventing the increase of the number of installations for the production of electricity from renewable energy sources in the Republic of Slovenia currently stem (among other things) from existing legislation governing spatial planning and permitting, as well as from a number of environmental regulations. The new proposed legislation aims to alleviate these obstacles and facilitate the siting of RES installations by implementing certain exceptions to the existing legislation5.
The Act on the Siting of Installations for the Production of Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources (the “ Act on the Siting of Installations “)6 aims to promote security of supply and is primarily intended to encourage the development of renewable energy sources through the siting of solar and wind energy installations and to achieve the objectives of a climate-neutral society.7
2. The concept of security of supply
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has defined security of supply in the European energy market as “the uninterrupted availability of energy resources at an affordable price“. At its core, security of supply means that consumers are able to obtain electricity of defined quality when they need it, at cost-reflective and transparent prices.8
3. What are the key innovations of Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2577?
The accelerated transition to clean energy at European Union level was recently outlined by Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2577, which applies 18 months after its entry into force (i.e. from the date the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (30 December 2022)). It establishes, inter alia, temporary rules of an emergency nature to accelerate the permit-granting process for the production of energy from renewable sources9; allows Member States to retain the possibility to further shorten the deadlines of the permit-granting process10 and introduces a rebuttable presumption that renewable energy projects are of overriding public interest, serve public health and safety, unless there is clear evidence that those projects have major adverse effects on the environment which cannot be mitigated or compensated for.11
Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2577 also provides that Member States should be able to introduce exemptions from certain assessment obligations for renewable energy projects. In order for these exemptions to be introduced, the project must be located in a dedicated renewable or grid area and such area should have been subject to a strategic environmental assessment.12
4. What does the Act on the Siting of Installations propose?
Some of the important envisaged new features of the Act on the Siting of Installations include:
4.1. Identification of the priority renewable energy siting areas
In order to avoid lengthy and complex administrative procedures for zoning and permitting, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia is expected to adopt action programmes for the implementation of the Spatial Development Strategy, identifying priority areas for the installation of solar and wind electricity generation facilities. Priority areas will be identified as suitable for the deployment of solar and wind power plants on the basis of a study previously carried out.13
4.2. Presumption of public health and safety
The draft Act on the Siting of Installations states that the planning, installation and operation of installations or facilities for the production of electricity by means of solar
and wind energy, the technical equipment necessary for their operation, energy storage facilities and grid connections shall be presumed to be in the interests of public health and safety and to be carried out for imperative reasons of overriding public interest.14
4.3. Speeding up siting and permitting procedures
Under the proposed Act on the Siting of Installations, the overall environmental impact assessment procedure may take up to six months from the submission of the environmental report to the Ministry. The six-month period does not include the period during which the sponsor of the person, who ordered the planning act supplements or modifies the content of the spatial planning act, the environmental report and/or the technical bases of the spatial planning act.15
It is foreseen that an amendment to a spatial planning act for which a comprehensive environmental impact assessment has already been made will not be carried out if the new or different spatial planning conditions are imposed on the planned interventions for the siting of installations generating electricity by harnessing solar or wind energy, which are in line with the state of the art, and no new or different environmental interventions are foreseen in relation to the spatial planning act being amended, or if there are minor changes to the location of the individual installation.16
In the area of a national spatial planning implementing act which was already in force at the time of the entry into force of this Act or for which the public consultation phase had already been completed, it is also foreseeable that the installation of installations generating electricity from solar energy, including technical equipment, will be permitted, necessary for their operation, energy storage installations and grid connections, even if these were not planned in the spatial planning act and the spatial planning act regulates spatial planning of national importance, i.e. transport infrastructure, energy infrastructure or water infrastructure.17
4.4. Impact on other Member States of the European Union
According to the draft Act on the Siting of Installations, the environment in another Member State or signatory to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (including the Espoo Convention) is not significantly affected by the implementation of a spatial planning act, which plans to install installations generating electricity by harnessing solar or wind energy, provided that no installation for harnessing wind energy shall be planned in an area extending 1 km from the national border.18
Indeed, considering the degree of integration of the European Union energy markets, any increase in renewable energy deployment in a Member State should be beneficial also to other Member States in terms of security of supply and lower prices.19
4.5. Other planned innovations
4.5.1. Introducing the “regulatory sandboxes”
As research into the generation of electricity and other energy from RES is constantly evolving, we can expect new technologies in the future that are not yet covered by today’s legislation. Innovative projects in this field will therefore be able to obtain, subject to compliance with the legal conditions, a decision allowing a “regulatory sandbox” or a “derogation from the current rules”, which will be issued by the Ministry responsible for energy after obtaining the prior consent of the other relevant ministries and organisations. The decision will be time-limited and will specify the precise conditions and scope of the derogation allowed for the sole purpose of implementing the notified project.20
4.5.2. Allowing permissible ancillary uses
The Act on the Siting of Installations follows EU-level guidelines21 which encourage the adoption of regulation allowing multiple use of sites. It presents the possibility of an accompanying energy land use for the siting of installations generating electricity by harnessing solar or wind energy in a space where its primary purpose (or primary use) is otherwise different. The multiple use of land for other purposes is referred to in the Act on the Siting of Installations as a “permissible ancillary use”, the key point being that it is a use of land that does not significantly impede the primary use of the land; that allows the land to serve both the primary purpose and an ancillary use, that is intended to achieve renewable energy objectives and is permissible under this Law or the law governing spatial planning or regulations adopted pursuant to it.22
For example, solar power plants as hail protection “roofs” over fields or orchards, solar power plants over artificial lakes to reduce evaporation, etc., have been suggested as ideas.
4.5.3. Amendments and additions to the current legislation
The adoption of the Act on the Siting of Installations will lead to amendments to the Slovenian Roads Act23, the Water Act24, the Mining Act 25, the Agricultural Land Act 26, the Act on Forests 27 and the Environmental Protection Act28. These are mainly provisions regulating the authorisation of the construction of installations generating electricity from solar energy, including the accompanying technical equipment, energy storage facilities and grid connections on public road land, on water and coastal land, on or over mining land and on agricultural land. The siting of installations in theseareas represents a significant unexploited potential and is permissible subject to the specific conditions of the nature of the land in question.29
4.5.4. Simplified service in the procedure for granting consent for the connection of solar and wind power plants to the grid
In order to accelerate the procedure, the Act on the Siting of Installations also seeks to simplify the way in which consent for the connection of installations generating electricity from solar and wind energy is granted. It is envisaged that service may also be effected by ordinary physical service or electronic mailbox address, with service being deemed to have been effected on the fifth day following the day of dispatch. With the agreement of the customer, it will be possible to carry out the service through an “ordinary” (rather than secure) electronic mailbox30.
5. Shop
As adequate energy infrastructure is a necessary element of an efficient energy market, such measures at European and national level are essential. In fact, advancing energy infrastructure improves the stability of the energy system and allows the integration of different energy sources. The accelerated deployment of renewables therefore not only promotes security of energy supply, but also reduces market volatility, enables sustainable and affordable energy, technological development and innovation31.
Due to the interference with existing legislation, in particular environmental legislation, a number of comments and suggestions are expected on the current draft Act on the Siting of Installations. Nevertheless, it is important that the law is adopted as soon as possible, particularly in view of the objectives set by the European Union and, above all, in order to achieve security of energy supply that is also sustainable as soon as possible.
Literature and sources
- Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (OJ L 328, 21.12.2018, p. 82).
- Fit for 55 is a package of changes to EU law that includes a revision of EU climate, energy and transport legislation to bring current laws in line with 2030 and 2050 ambitions, as well as a number of new initiatives.
- Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2577 of 22 December 2022 on laying down a framework to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy
- Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2577, Recital 3.
- The new Act on the Siting of Installations thus inter alia affects the provisions of the Roads Act, the Mining Act, the Water Act, the Agricultural Land Act, the Forest Act and the Environmental Protection Act.
- Law on the Siting of Installations for the Production of Electricity from Renewable Sources, proposal for public consultation, September 2022, EEA 2022-2430-0081.
- si. Presentation of the draft law on the siting of installations for the production of electricity from renewable energy sources. Available at: https://www.gov.si/dogodki/2023-01-27-predstavitev-predloga-zakona-o-umescanju-naprav-za-proizvodnjo-elektricne-energije-iz-obnovljivih-virov-energije/ (5 March 2023).
- org. Energy security. Available at: https://www.iea.org/topics/energy-security ( (accessed 5 March 2023).
- Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2577, Article 1.
- Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2577, Recital 19.
- Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2577, Recital 8.
- Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2577, Recital 6.
- Article 3 of the draft law on the siting of installations.
- Article 6 of the draft law on the siting of installations.
- Article 10 of the draft law on the siting of installations.
- Article 12 of the draft law on the siting of installations.
- Article 7 of the draft law on the siting of installations.
- Article 11 of the draft law on the siting of installations.
- Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2577, Recital 21.
- Law on the Siting of Installations for the Production of Electricity from Renewable Sources, proposal for public consultation, September 2022, EEA 2022-2430-0081, page 5.
- European Commission Recommendation of 18.05.2022 on speeding up authorisation procedures for renewable energy projects and facilitating Power Purchase Agreements.
- Law on the Siting of Installations for the Production of Electricity from Renewable Sources, proposal for public consultation, September 2022, EEA 2022-2430-0081, page 5.
- Road Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No 132/22, as amended, “ZCes-2”).
- Water Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No 67/02, as amended, “ZV-1”).
- Mining Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No 14/14, as amended, “ZRud-1”).
- Agricultural Land Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No 71/11, as amended, “ZKZ”).
- The Forest Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No 30/93, as amended, the “ZG”).
- Environmental Protection Act (Official Journal of the Republic of Slovenia, No 39/06, as amended, “ZVO-1”).
- Law on the Siting of Installations for the Production of Electricity from Renewable Sources, proposal for public consultation, September 2022, EEA 2022-2430-0081, pages 5-7.
- Law on the Siting of Installations for the Production of Electricity from Renewable Sources, Proposal for public consultation, September 2022, EEA 2022-2430-0081, page 48.
- Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, Recital 3.