Innovative approaches in the energy sector have become an increasingly important topic in recent years, especially in connection with rising electricity prices and the desire for greater energy independence. European legislation also supports the use of renewable energy sources, which creates space for more efficient consumption models, such as sharing groups.

The market for shared electricity can have a significant impact on the future of energy, helps to more efficiently use renewable sources, decentralize energy and, last but not least, reduces dependence on energy imports, strengthens local energy self-sufficiency and security. It is therefore important that it has defined clear rules that will help its development. High-quality and professional implementation of European directives into Slovak energy legislation will also support self-sufficient and green energy.

EU support for energy sharing

A new development that is coming to the fore is the establishment of sharing groups and ensuring more efficient consumption of produced energy. But what is a sharing group?

An energy sharing group is an association of several consumers who share electricity produced from their own renewable sources, such as solar panels. This model enables more efficient use of locally produced energy and reduces dependence on traditional electricity suppliers.

Before the amendments introduced by the Slovak National Regulatory Authority in its regulations, energy sharing operated on a looser principle. It operated on individual agreements concluded between individual entities, and the condition regarding a single balance group or the coordination of consumption and delivery points did not apply. However, this sharing has recently undergone several changes.

European legislation has introduced rules on how sharing should work through several directives. It is necessary to point out the fact that the concept of energy sharing does not exist at the level of European legislation. The directives refer to the sharing of energy. However, the directives are essentially more concerned with energy from renewable sources and it is within this energy that they introduce its sharing.

Slovak legislation has chosen its own term, which more precisely defines the energy sharing mechanism, consisting in the creation of a group that will share energy among itself.

Problematic electricity sharing in Slovakia

Changes in energy legislation, which are of an upward nature, have also brought with them legal regulation in connection with energy sharing. It was initiated by the ÚRSO by incorporating Directive 2019/944 as amended by Directive 2024/1711. But what does the directive explicitly introduce? In its wording, it speaks of the obligation to introduce sharing rules in a non-discriminatory manner and that market participants must either be independent settlement entities or contractually transfer their responsibility to a settlement entity of their own choice.

Interestingly, this condition was added to the decree only after the amendment had undergone non-departmental commenting. As a result, companies, cities, municipalities or apartment buildings that wanted to share electricity only learned about this fundamental change after the decree was adopted and published in the Collection of Laws. After its adoption, the public criticized the lack of involvement and the lack of consultation regarding the upcoming change.

A new fundamental rule was added to the decree, which states that the same settlement entity will assume responsibility for the deviation for all consumption and delivery points in a given sharing group. In practice, however, this seemingly simple rule brings significant problems, which can be identified at two levels.

The first level refers to new sharing groups, which must decide who they will have as their settlement entity in order to be established. Subsequently, those entities that are not registered with the given settlement entity will have to register with it. The initial idea for introducing sharing groups and the line that European legislation also follows was that energy that is stored but not used should be used and not "lost". This was also intended to help consumers become active consumers. It is therefore debatable whether the obligation to choose one settlement agent and register with it may act as a deterrent to market entities and they will stop establishing these sharing groups. The second level is the failure to come to terms with the fact that sharing groups were already being formed before the introduction of the new rules. The decree does not contain a transitional provision or rule that would say what will happen to groups that were formed before the new rules came into force and are not registered with the same deviation settlement agent. So what will these groups do? The answer could be simple. If the legislation or rules do not explicitly tell them that they should organize their relationships in accordance with the current rules that limit their choice of deviation settlement agent, they have no reason to voluntarily introduce this restriction.

The need to stabilize the electricity system and distribution systems

What led the ÚRSO to amend the energy sharing? According to available information, this was caused by technical problems. Since the settlement entities were registered with different imbalance settlement providers, they provided them with information for settlement on different dates.

Irregularities arise due to differences between planned and actual electricity consumption or production, and their effective management is crucial for the stability of the electricity system. Before this change, it turned out that sharing electricity between multiple balance groups could cause problems in settling imbalances, which could lead to unpredictable costs for individual market participants.

Non-compliance with EU requirements in restrictions for consumers

However, the change that was introduced means a significant restriction for market participants. It limits their free choice of the imbalance settlement provider and forces them to be registered in one balance group. At the same time, this does not help the goal set by the European Union and its intention to create shared energy use.

The EU's goal was to create a suitable legislative environment as well as technical and software conditions for the maximum use of green resources on the consumption side. However, this must also take into account the responsibility for the imbalance. The implemented EU directives clearly state that market participants must either be independent settlement entities or must contractually transfer their responsibility to an independent settlement entity of their own choice. According to the relevant EU directives 2019/943 on the internal market in electricity and ) Directive 2019/944 as amended by Directive 2024/1711, consumers should have the right to participate in shared energy use as active consumers in a non-discriminatory manner. The restriction set by Slovak national legislation that all users of one sharing group be in only one balance group is therefore not in line with the requirements of EU legislation. This has long advocated the support of energy communities and consumer participation in energy markets, for example through flexible energy use and efficient demand management.

Amendment from the Ministry of Economy

The Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic is coming up with a solution to the situation on the Slovak electricity sharing market, which has submitted an amendment to the Energy Act for comment. One of the goals of the legislative amendment is also changes to electricity sharing for consumers, with which the ministry wants to minimize current restrictions.

The aim of the upcoming legislative changes is to support the development of electricity sharing among consumers and facilitate administrative procedures. End consumers will thus have the right to participate in electricity sharing in a non-discriminatory manner so that they are not excluded from participating in electricity sharing.

Suppliers will no longer be able to condition the conclusion of an electricity supply contract or an electricity joint supply contract on a ban on sharing electricity or on limiting the amount of electricity. A consumption point or delivery point can only be assigned to one sharing group at a time, and it also protects an active consumer from unfair and discriminatory treatment by settlement entities. Both the professional and lay public can comment on the draft law until April 4. Therefore, we still have to wait for the final adjustment of the sharing conditions.