European Recovery and Resilience Funds – Together towards the goal: Greater use of renewable energy sources
According to data from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, the share of energy from renewable sources (RES) in Slovenia's gross final energy consumption stood at 23% in 2021 and has been gradually increasing. In 2024, it reached 25%. The target for 2030, set out in the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), is to increase the share of RES to at least 33%.
Slovenia also promoted the use of renewable energy sources through measures under the RRP.
Using EU funds allocated to Member States for recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry responsible for infrastructure and energy, in cooperation with local communities, public institutions, economic operators and electricity distribution companies, implemented reform and investment measures to increase the use of RES.
Promoting renewable energy sources – reforms
The aim of the first reform measure was to accelerate the roll-out of renewable technologies in the electricity sector.
To accelerate investment, the State enacted the Act on the Promotion of the Use of Renewable Energy Sources, which streamlines administrative procedures for the spatial planning of projects. Among other measures, the Act introduced a simplified application procedure for connecting self-consumption installations of up to 50 kW to the distribution network and provided for the establishment of a single point of contact to assist customers with procedures for the installation and use of RES. The single point of contact was established in September 2022 and operates within Borzen, the electricity market operator.
The two milestones related to the entry into force of the Act were included in the second payment request, with the corresponding payment made by the European Commission (EC) in December 2023. The third milestone was included in the fifth payment request, with the corresponding payment made by the EC in April this year.
The second reform measure to promote renewable energy sources was part of Slovenia's RRP activities contributing to the objectives of the REPowerEU Plan to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and accelerate the green transition.
As part of this reform measure, the State ensured the entry into force of the Act on the siting of installations for generation of electricity from renewable energy sources and the Decree laying down detailed rules for the siting of photovoltaic installations. The two acts remove regulatory barriers to the deployment of installations for generating electricity from RES in areas such as roadsides, water surfaces and rooftops.
The two reform milestones were included in the fourth payment request, with the corresponding payment made by the EC in November 2025.
Electricity supply to promote renewable energy sources – reform
The aim of the reform was to improve the integration of renewable energy generation installations into the grid and promote demand-side flexibility. To this end, the State ensured the entry into force of the Electricity Supply Act, which sets out measures to ensure the secure operation of the grid, including the introduction of smart grid services, and measures to connect new capacity, including demand response and energy storage facilities.
The reform milestone was included in the first payment request, with the corresponding payment made by the EC in April 2023.
Energy efficient restructuring of district heating systems with the use of renewable sources – investment
The aim of the investment was to improve the energy efficiency of district heating systems. The ministry responsible for infrastructure and energy financed three district heating projects using renewable energy sources through a public call for proposals, with a combined thermal capacity of 10.85 MW.
Up to EUR 2.9 million in grants from the RRF is planned under the RRP for the implementation of the investment.
The milestone related to the publication of the public call for proposals was included in the second payment request, with the corresponding payment made by the EC in December 2023. The target related to the installation of capacity was included in the sixth payment request, with the corresponding payment made by the EC in July this year.
Production of electricity from renewable energy sources – investment
The aim of the investment was to establish new electricity generation capacity from renewable energy sources.
The ministry responsible for infrastructure and energy provided financial support through a public call for proposals to 26 consortium projects for the construction of new installations for the production of electricity from solar energy on public buildings and car parks. The 26 projects involved the installation of 656 solar power plants on public buildings and car parks and the construction of a small hydropower plant, together providing 56.66 MW of additional renewable electricity generation capacity.
Up to EUR 40.26 million in loans from the RRF is planned under the RRP for the implementation of the investment, with the funds provided to final recipients on a non-repayable basis.
The investment milestone will be included in the final payment request under the RRF.
Strengthening the electricity distribution network (transformer stations and low-voltage network) – investment
The aim of the investment was to modernise the electricity distribution network in line with the increasing consumption of electricity from renewable energy sources and to enable the connection of renewable energy generation installations, heat pumps and charging points for electric vehicles.
The ministry responsible for infrastructure and energy supported 10 projects by electricity distribution companies through a public call for proposals, resulting in the installation of 838 new transformer stations across Slovenia. The ministry also supported three projects by electricity distribution companies through a public call for proposals, resulting in more than 385 kilometres of new low-voltage distribution network becoming operational.
Up to EUR 40 million in grants from the RRF is planned under the RRP for the implementation of the investment.
The two milestones related to the publication of the public calls for proposals were included in the second payment request, while the two targets will be included in the final payment request under the RRF.
Strengthening the electricity distribution network (medium- and low-voltage network) – investment
The investment, which formed part of the activities contributing to the objectives of the REPowerEU Plan, was primarily aimed at strengthening the medium-voltage electricity distribution network as a necessary response to the challenges posed by decarbonisation, distributed energy generation and electromobility and the use of electricity as the main energy source for transport and heating.
The ministry responsible for infrastructure and energy supported five projects by electricity distribution companies through a public call for proposals, resulting in 324 kilometres of medium-voltage distribution network becoming operational. The ministry also supported seven projects through a public call for proposals, under which electricity distribution companies constructed an additional 917 kilometres of low-voltage distribution network.
Up to EUR 47.43 million in grants from the RRF is planned under the RRP for the implementation of the investment.
