Slovenia to incentivize installation of batteries for prosumers

The Slovenian Environmental Public Fund (Eko Sklad) will start awarding incentives to prosumers for solar photovoltaic systems with batteries. So far, subsidies to households and firms have only been approved for PV systems without batteries.

The trend of installing batteries in Europe has been additionally fueled by the energy crisis and the impact of the war in Ukraine. At the end of last year, more than a million homes had these devices or 50% more than in 2021.

Slovenia intends to support the activity with subsidies and reduce its gap against the most advanced countries: Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Austria.

Subsidies for power plants with batteries are ten times higher than for plants without energy storage

Under Slovenia’s incentive scheme, subsidies for rooftop solar systems with batteries are ten times higher than for those without them. Households and firms could get up to EUR 500 per kilowatt-hour of installed capacity of a facility with batteries, and only EUR 50 for PV systems without storage.

Of note, earlier the subsidies for the facilities without batteries were EUR 180.

Incentives were granted for solar power plants installed after March 1, 2022, where they must be operational at the time of application. Subsidies cannot exceed 25% of the total investment.

However, not all batteries are eligible for the incentives. Households and firms must install storage with a capacity of 0.7 hours of operation of the capacity of installed solar power plants. This means that a 10 kW PV system must have a 7 kWh battery.

The total amount available is EUR 20 million, with equal shares for households and companies.

Free advice in 60 Ensvet offices

Citizens and companies can receive free advice regarding applications through Eko Sklad’s public call. Almost sixty offices of its Ensvet advisory service are at their disposal, and an appointment can be made by phone or online.

In addition to assistance for the currently open public call, Ensvet provides help in the selection, planning and implementation of investments in energy efficiency measures and renewable energy production.