Slovenia

Overall assessment

Updated December 2022

Slovenia transposed the Renewables and Electricity Market Directives, including most provisions on energy communities in July and October 2021 with the Acts n° 2570 on the promotion of the use of renewable energy sources (ZSROVE) and n°3349 on Electricity Supply (ZOEE). Still some criteria are a copy paste from the EU Directives and need further elaboration of what they mean at the national level. This framework replaces and completes their previous framework on community self-care (I.e. collective self-consumption) set up from 2019 onwards. CECs are also eligible to be active in most markets and activities, but cannot own or manage a distribution network. The implementing rules specifying how RESC can set up collective self-consumption within the community were defined in March 2022.

Detailed assessment

Criteria of EU definition reflected in national definition

For Renewable Energy Sources Communities (RESC):

  • Open and voluntary is covered
  • Eligibility is covered
  • Effective control is covered
  • Autonomy is covered (they mention the word ‘independent’), without further elaboration of what it means
  • Requirement of proximity is included

For Energy Communities of Citizens (ECC):

  • Open and voluntary is covered
  • Eligibility is covered
  • Effective control is covered

Level of detail in the elaboration of principles contained in EU criteria

Renewable Energy Sources Communities (RESC):

  • Eligibility - Shareholders and members are legal or natural persons except legal persons engaged in an economic activity that are not SMEs. Point (2) of Article 43 of the Renewable Energy Sources Promotion Act of 13 July 2021 states that any legal person can be member of the RESC, unless they perform their economic or professional activity within the framework of cooperation with this community. This last reference excludes the participation of energy companies in a Renewable Energy Sources Community.
  • Effective control - The RES Community should be effectively controlled by partners or members in the vicinity of renewable energy projects – further elaboration is needed on what effective control means.

Energy Communities of Citizens (ECC):

  • Eligibility - An ECC can be established by members connected to the national distribution grid. The Slovenian citizenship is not a requirement for membership according to the Article 24 (1) of the Electricity Supply Act.
  • Effective control - An ECC should be effectively controlled by members or partners who are natural persons, local authorities, including municipalities, or small businesses. Point 37 of Article 4 of the Act on Electricity Supply defines control as the "rights, contracts or other means that, individually or together, and taking into account the relevant factual or legal circumstances, enable the exercise of decisive influence in the company, in particular by:

a) ownership or the right to use all or part of the company's assets;

b) rights or contracts that provide a decisive influence on the composition, voting or decisions of the company's bodies”.

Still some criteria are a copy paste from the EU Directives and need further elaboration of what they mean at the national level.

Clearly defined purpose

Copy paste from EU Directives

ICA cooperative governance principles reflected

To the level mentioned at the EU Directives

Legal entities allowed

The energy community of citizens is defined at point 18 of Article 4 of the Electricity Supply Act of October 2021 and states it is a legal entity. Article 24 details further that the energy community should be established as a cooperative according to the law governing cooperatives. The law governing cooperatives applies to them, unless this Electricity Supply Act provides otherwise. Acts n° 2570 does not specify what legal form a Renewable energy sources community can undertake. Some clarity is needed on whether the cooperative legal form is also chosen for Renewable energy sources communities.

Citizen participation is ensured

Not clearly mentioned

Designated authority to oversee

Not specified.

Number of definitions

2 - Renewable energy sources community and energy community of citizens

Coherency between both definitions

We didn’t identify concrete measures to maintain coherency between the 2 definitions.