District heating and cooling infrastructure development

The main objective of the subprogramme of the new National Energy Programme in the area of local energy is to formulate, adopt, and implement intensive development strategies for local energy, relying on high-efficiency cogeneration of heat and power, RES and district heating and cooling systems. The operational objectives of the subprogramme are as follows:

- high-efficiency cogeneration of heat and power (CHP)⁴ or the use of RES in all local and district heating systems, with the target of achieving at least an 80% share of the production of useful energy from these sources by 2020 in district heating systems;

4 Cogeneration only from low-carbon sources: especially RES, natural gas and gradually alternative sources (e.g. hydrogen).

78 - an increased share of local and district heating in the structure of final energy

consumption, despite reduced use of final energy;

- construction of new systems of local and district heating based exclusively on high-efficiency CHP or RES and waste heat from industrial processes from 2012;

- in all new and refurbished buildings with heat offtake over 250 kW_t mandatory use of CHP, RES or district heating, where this is technically feasible and economically advisable;

- setting up at least five district cooling systems by 2015;

- the transition of five municipalities to 100% energy supply from RES by 2020, and 20 municipalities by 2030;

- in the public sector and all buildings financed from public funds, ensuring heat from CHP, RES or local and district heating systems:

o in new buildings and major building refurbishments, from 2012;

o transition of all existing buildings to such method of heating (40% of buildings by 2020 and 80% by 2030).

Achieving these goals will require the refurbishing and construction of new machinery to generate heat and cooling, as well as the accelerated development of district heating and cooling networks and the connection of new users to these networks in the period 2011-2016.

Based on the above assessment there are plans to amend the legislative framework governing this field and to promote infrastructure for district heating and cooling, both on the local distribution level and on the micro distribution level. Incentives are envisaged on the level of eliminating administrative barriers, as well as financial incentives for investment.

In this way an administrative barrier has been eliminated in the latest revised version of the Energy Act (EZ-D, Off. Gaz. RS, No. 22/10) through simplification for micro and small district heating systems in terms of pursuing the activity in the case of using renewable sources of heat.

The financial incentives currently available are defined in the Operational Programme for Developing Environmental and Transport Infrastructure. Cohesion Fund financing is being used in the form of non-returnable subsidies to promote district heating systems operating on wood biomass (solar collectors are also included as an eligible cost) as well as large wood biomass boilers in industry. The two tenders for allocating these subsidies include expansion of the district heating networks, construction of new biomass boiler rooms and replacing boilers in existing rooms. There are also plans for a tender for district heating using geothermal energy (tender in 2010, implementation in 2011).

79 (a) Sustainability criteria for biofuels and bioliquids

Implementation of sustainability criteria for solid and liquid biofuels requires amendment of the Energy Act such that the act will regulate the conditions for placing on the market only for those liquid fuels that meet sustainability criteria, and will regulate the verification and confirmation of compliance with the prescribed requirements of the sustainability criteria, inspection and implementation of special procedures for acknowledging the compliance of liquid fuels.

(b) Legislative framework for solid and liquid biofuels meeting sustainability criteria

The legal framework for monitoring and verifying fulfilment of sustainability criteria for solid and liquid biofuels will be provided through amendment of the Energy Act.

(b) Implementation of sustainabiilty criteria fulfilment for solid and liquid biofuels

The amendments to the Energy Act envisage the following legislative solutions for monitoring and verifying fulfilment of sustainability criteria for solid and liquid biofuels:

1. the producer of the solid or liquid biofuel is responsible for confirming the compliance of the solid and liquid biofuel with the required sustainability criteria. Prior to confirmation of compliance, the suitability of solid or liquid biofuel is determined by testing and verification of the source of the input biological raw materials. The producer must carry out the procedure of determining and confirming compliance in cooperation with the authority involved in confirming the compliance of solid and liquid biofuels;

2. the authority involved in confirming the compliance of solid and liquid biofuels is the certification authority, and this may be a state body or any other legal person;

3.the procedures carried out to determine the compliance of solid and liquid biofuels are the basis for confirming the compliance of biofuels with the prescribed sustainability criteria, and this is performed with a certificate of compliance of the solid or liquid biofuel issued by the certification authority;

4. the minister responsible for energy prescribes the content of the documents of compliance for solid and liquid biofuels. In accordance with the general regulations on determining the compliance of products, the minister responsible for energy [...]

[Translator’s Note: there is a verb missing here in the original Slovenian text. ‘issues certficates’ (?)] to those bodies involved in confirming the compliance of solid and liquid biofuels established in Slovenia which meet the following requirements:

- they possess the necessary means and equipment,

- they have personnel professionally trained and demonstrating professional integrity at their disposal,

80 product whose compliance is being confirmed through testing, the preparation of reports, issuing of certificates of compliance and inspection,

- they guarantee business confidentiality,

- their work is insured against liability, except in cases where liability is insured by the state pursuant to the law.

(d) Accessibility of information on land zoning and national land register

Information that may be relevant for verifying compliance with the requirements of Directive 2009/28/EC are for:

- protected areas and other areas identified for the preservation of biodiversity, accessible on the website

- http://gis.arso.gov.si/atlasokolja/profile.aspx?id=Atlas Okolja AXL@Arso,

- the state of land use (forest, agricultural land etc.) accessible on the MAFF web portal (http://rkg.gov.si/GERK/viewer.jsp), and there they are also summarised on the spatial planning portal Prostor (http://prostor2.gov.si/javni/login.jsp?jezik=sl), and

- eligible use of land (including eligible use of forest and farmland) on the municipalities portal PISO (http: //www.geoprostor.net/PisoPortal/Default.aspx ).

(e) Accessibility of information on protected areas

Information on the national, European or international system of protection in which protected areas are classified is accessible for each individual protected area on the website http://gis.arso.gov.si/atlasokolja/profile.aspx?id=Atlas Okolja AXL@Arso.

(f) Changing the status of land

The status of land (protected area under the regulations on nature conservation) is determined by regulations adopted by the Slovenian National Assembly, the Government or municipal council.

Records of protected areas are kept by ARSO and are accessible on the website http://gis.arso.gov.si/atlasokolja/profile.aspx?id=Atlas Okolja AXL(g),Arso.. Records of protected areas are updated each time the regulation is amended.

(g) Compliance with good agro-environmental practices

The Slovenian Agency for Agricultural Markets and Rural Development is tasked for the purposes of the scheme of direct aid to farmers under the common agricultural policy in accordance with Council Regulation 2009/73/EC, ensuring and verifying compliance with the requirements and standards pursuant to the provisions of the title “Environment” in part A and point 9 of Annex II and the minimum requirements for good agro-environmental practices defined pursuant to Article 6(1) of the quoted regulation.

81 Decree on the prescribed requirements and good agricultural and environmental conditions in farming (Off. Gaz. RS, No. 7/10). This decree defines the requirements that farmers must meet in the event of receiving direct payments in agriculture within the first pillar of the common agricultural policy, and receiving funds for environmental measures and investments in the countryside as part of the rural development programme.

Monitoring of the fulfilment of cross-compliance is carried out with at least 1% of eligible persons, who are selected on the basis of risk analysis. Monitoring is carried out throughout the year.

(h) Contribution of Slovenia to developing the voluntary system of certification for the sustainability of solid and liquid biofuels

Slovenia is striving for the conclusion of agreements between the Community and third countries containing provisions on sustainability criteria matching those in Directive 2009/28/EC. These agreements between the Community and third countries must demonstrate that motor biofuels and other liquid biofuels produced from raw materials made in those countries fulfil the relevant sustainability criteria.

4.3 Support schemes to promote the use of energy from renewable sources in