Ministry to Preserve Just One Acceleration Zone for Wind Energy

Bratislava, 13 August (TASR) - The Environment Ministry will scrap all of the eight zones originally identified in a document called 'Acceleration Zones for Wind Energy in Slovakia' except for one, located in eastern Slovakia, which will be divided into two zones, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) told a news conference held on Thursday with several local government representatives in attendance. Wind farms will only be built in the zones if the local authorities agree to it. The minister doesn't expect this to happen, however. The change should be made as part of a strategic environmental assessment (SEA), which is carried out by the Environment Ministry and which also issues a final opinion. Taraba noted that the document itself is sponsored by the Economy Ministry. He believes that Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) will submit it to the government in time so that the deadline under Slovakia's Recovery and Resilience Plan is met. The locations selected in the document included Prietrzka–Sobotiste, Gbely–Stefanov, Vrakun–Dolny Stal (all three Trnava region), Okoc–Zemianska Olca (Trnava and Nitra regions), Palarikovo–Nove Zamky, Komjatice–Mojzesovo, and Podhajska–Dvory nad Zitavou (all three Nitra region). The pilot zone in the Michalovce district (Kosice region) called 'East' should be retained. ko/df