RES: The biggest unknown thing is how demand responds
The past weekend agencies brought a great message: There will grow the first solar power plant in Slovakia! Green Energy Slovakia will build it on the 12-hectare of land at Tesárske Mlyňany in the Zlaté Moravce district. Following two pieces of news took breath away even more: it should be done by the end of this year and for „only“ 8 millions Euro. Of course, versus the fact that the legendary power station billions are not concerned, it is necessary to give to a good measure that the annual performance of 2.2 million kWh of electricity will cover the annual consumption of about 800 households. Saving of 2 700 tonnes of CO2 per year compared with the traditional way of production of electricity, the possibility of removal after 30 years of service or preservation of natural vegetation on the surface, however, are certainly worth consideration. As well as the information is worth consideration that it will be the structure without concrete, created only by screw anchors and a construction (both of steel) and solar panels.
Sufficiency of solar energy has become a prosaic reason why the choice fell on Tesárske Mlyňany. Despite the opposition of defenders of the country and some of its citizens wind parks are beginning gradually flourish (for example at Cerová, Myjava or Skalica). The promotion of renewable energy sources (RES) friendly to a wallet and an environment avows the state after all, which wishes to increase their contribution in production of electricity and heat to create the appropriate additional resources so as to cover domestic demand. RES is simply – if somebody wish or not – on the daily agenda. Who the topic addresses from professional or purely practical motives, could not miss at the discussion meeting of the Internet magazine Stavebné fórum.sk, which entitled Friendly Energy Sources and Opportunities of Savings held in Bratislava Art Hotel William on May 14, 2009.
A lot of bureaucracy, a little support
Those who want to become successful applicants for
grants, Zuzana Chudáčková (bnt – Sovova Chudáčková & Partner,
s.r.o.) brought near to the system of support for environmental solutions. As
she explained, the owner or co-owner of a family house is enabled now to ask for
the block grant for biomass boilers or solar collectors to the community of
owners of apartments and residential premises, or their manager. As she
observed, its source is not the state budget, but the EU structural funds, which
are allocated in accordance with the Operational program Competitiveness and
economic growth.
By Paul Starinský (SIEA – Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency) in Slovakia there is a lack of both a national program of energy research, but also a greater willingness on the side of the government to address the RES. He illustrated the state by the amount of state paperwork relating to the Structural Funds: „When the program is managed from Brussels, bureaucracy is three times less than when it enters into the Slovak interface.“ But also his agency did not avoid criticism – a voice from plenum spoke about three of 300 projects approved: "We are administrators only who have exactly specified from headquarters, what yes and what not. We require the document on possession with the registration number, the invoice for the boiler for biomass, the protocol on the putting it into operation, the confirmation of the social insurance and the tax offices on no arrears. If an applicant for a grant will not have the above mentioned documents, we return him back. For small formal errors we certainly not take an action, "advocated Starinský the SIEA competence.
Wind more popular in Austria
Up to 200 kWh per year can be saved with a
circulatory pump, which circulates a heat carrier in systems of heating, cooling
and air conditioning. As it states Luboš Kulíšek, the representative of
Grundfos firm, dedicated to the production of these devices, with which we can
achieve one of the biggest savings in electricity. He compared the purchase
price to only the tip of the iceberg, which will hide, what is returned to its
owner several times. As he pointed out consider a plant as a „natural“ and a
pump as „unnatural“ is not adequate, because we need to work together with
nature and technologies.
At the end of the presentation on the projects for reducing energy consumption within the frame of the European program Odyssée Jan Rousek (SIEA) met the logical question: Why is it desirable so as the consumption of electricity in Slovak households would grow?
He surprised many people by the answer: Because in the standard of living – for example in equipping with appliances that save job – we are falling behind Austria and Germany, with which we compare ourselves.
Charles Galek from the GENERM Company pointed out the negativistic staining attribute „unpredictable“ RES, which evokes something unpredictable. The strategy of higher development of RES in the Slovak Republic defined barriers: concerning solar energy it is high investment costs and low efficiency of conversion to electrical energy, in the wind (2-percent solar energy derivative) – lack of knowledge and a strong dependence on climatic conditions, adverse effect on the stability of power system, restrictions in the protected areas and problems of perception of visual changing of an environment. Galek, however, pointed to the no justification of these arguments, which support the theory of the disadvantages of RES. Energy from wind displeases the same popularity everywhere according to him. In Austria a popular and welcome, in Slovakia the Ministry has negative attitude to it.
The target of criticism – state and banks
The best version of the discussion is, when the
formal interface between questions and answers is blurred and the event gains
the momentum built on the respective dialogue, at times up to the controversy,
without pretended courtesy to pre-speaker. For example, Pavol Široký the
representative of the civil association Za Matku zem (on behalf of Mother
Earth), interposed the Kulíšková apotheosis of a pump with a grain of doubt
with the encrypted response: „How much a modern pump saves energy, we know.
But how much energy is used in its production cycle and what is its payback
… “
Vladimir Kočvara from ADONIS CONSULT Company confirmed that the Ministry of Environment of SR is filed more than 70 projects of wind parks, whereas most of them should be in Podunajská nížina (the Danube lowland). As he stated, clients are complaining most about the length of the investment process, which includes such as birds monitoring and noisiness study. Inter-Ministerial Commission is therefore preparing a methodology that will divide the territory of Slovakia for the appropriate, conditionally appropriate and inappropriate for the construction of wind parks.
While Galek identified the Czech Republic as a "tiger in the field of photovoltaic”, Michal Šourek from MSG Holding slightly corrected the idyllic picture of the overall position of RES in the Czech public awareness in our country. As he reminded, although media stated that after the program the Green to savings launch, offices were filled in by thousands of queries, after all just too applications were filled. Karol Machánek from Architech group firm, which has led some customers to wood buildings and to heat pumps, however, considers the state attitude towards support of RES as a retrograde. „Neither banks remained saved. “It's not because we would not want. The market situation is not inclined to such projects. If the buy-out of energy is guaranteed, we certainly will go to it, "responded Ľuboš Pavlik from ČSOB Leasing the criticisms of misunderstanding RES projects by banks.
Suppress generational selfishness
What are the specific findings and the challenges
that resulted from the discussion meeting Friendly Energy Sources and
Opportunities of Savings? Moreover, that it pointed to the need for national
integration and institutionalisation of the individual, mostly fragmented
efforts of supporters of RES, again declared the will of our Internet media not
to stand aside from current trends, which, were paradoxically accelerate by the
crisis. And the irreversible indication that the use of RES is not only
fashionable political or journalistic hit can be the initial report about the
first solar park in our country.
What remained practically „hanging in the air“ as unsaid, is how the demand response the change of the government course regarding RES. Slovak consumer is known for his conservativeness and distrust to all new and if has not an early profit guaranteed, respectively, the payback of input investments he is not discussing on the offer at all (an opposite evidence is strong response to „the scrap money“). And information campaigns – whether conducted by public or private places – not always crowned by the achievement of the objective, which they set up. A change in mindset and attitudes is said be driven from the suppression of a generational selfishness, thinking only in a limited life term of parents, children and grandchildren, what has been long strongly entrenched in Slovakia.
Graphs – source SIEA and GENERM:
Graph n°1 – Technical potential of RES
Graph n°2 – Long-term targets of RES (Strategy of energy safety of SR)
Graph n°3 – Investments till year 2030: for electricity production app
15 bills Euro, hereof RES 44 %, nuclear sources 36 %, heat sources 15 % and PVE
Ipeľ 5 %.
Graph n°4 – The cumulative installed capacity of wind power in EÚ (EWEA,
02/2009)
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