Energy-intensive companies can claim compensation for a portion of the indirect costs of greenhouse gas emissions after the European Commission approved Slovenia’s €99 million compensation scheme.
The government issued a regulation that will be the basis for compensation last week in a move welcomed by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), which has been pushing for such an instrument for a decade. The measure is expected to make companies more competitive EU-wide.
The government estimates that between 10-25 companies will be eligible. The GZS said that 19 companies will benefit.
The compensation will cover part of the companies’ costs of higher electricity prices resulting from the impact of carbon prices on electricity generation costs, incurred between 2022 and 2024, under the EU Emission Trading Scheme.
The compensation will be paid for the costs incurred in the previous year, with the final payment to be made in 2025.
Each beneficiary will have to reduce their carbon footprint by covering at least 30% of their electricity needs from carbon-free sources.
Slovenia has not had a compensation scheme so far despite there being a legislative basis. As several other EU countries have taken such measures, this may have put Slovenian companies in the sectors concerned at a competitive disadvantage, the government said.
The same was pointed out by the GZS. Its director-general Vesna Nahtigal said the adoption of the regulation “has broken a ten-year Gordian knot and will allow Slovenia’s energy-intensive industry to become more competitive”.
(Sebastijan R. Maček | sta.si)
Source: euractiv.com
