Galek: Sakova Prepared Business Worth Hundreds of Millions for Heating Companies

Bratislava, 19 November (TASR) - Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) has prepared a business plan for heating companies to produce electricity from gas worth hundreds of millions of euros, but also higher electricity prices for households, MP for the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party Karol Galek stated on Wednesday, adding that Slovakia doesn't need such electricity. SaS has therefore called on Sakova to withdraw the aforementioned call. "Otherwise invisible Minister Sakova announced and published a call on the Economy Ministry's website on 31 October, inviting applications from those who want to produce electricity and heat from gas. The output shouldn't be 120 megawatts (MW), as was the case with solar power plants, but 220 MW. And for this electricity, she promises to guarantee a price of €119 for 15 years. Such facilities typically operate for about 6,250 hours per year. From this, it is easy to calculate how much we'll have to contribute to Sakova's guaranteed business for a select few. In 15 years, this would cost us €500 to €800 million. This will be a business worth hundreds of millions for heating companies but for us this will mean higher electricity prices," stated Galek. According to him, this is scandalous due to five reasons. The first is that Sakova plans to increase electricity prices for households at a time when she's also planning to subsidise them. Second, this €500-800 million will also increase prices for businesses, which are currently not competitive with foreign companies. "Third, we don't need this overpriced and subsidised electricity today, as Slovakia is self-sufficient in terms of electricity production and consumption. We have cheap electricity from nuclear power at our disposal. Fourth, this call is to be closed on 31 December this year and evaluated within five days. Fifth, this call is intended to support electricity produced from gas, i.e., from a fossil fuel that the EU plans to phase out," he emphasised. am