Priestorové komponenty energetickej zraniteľnosti regiónov na Slovensku

Abstract

The war conflict in Ukraine caused a several-fold increase in energy prices on the world stock exchanges and increased the risk of energy vulnerability and energy poverty of households in Slovakia. Households that have had problems covering energy-related costs in the past are most at risk of energy vulnerability. The households most at risk of energy vulnerability are those that have already struggled to cover energy-related costs in the past. The aim of the contribution is to identify spatially differentiated components of energy vulnerability in the districts of Slovakia. Principal Component Analysis was used to meet the above objectives, allowing for an assessment of relative vulnerability between regions and identifying the most energy-vulnerable households and regions. Eighteen risk indicators related to or underlying energy vulnerability were assessed. The regional factors in the final phase included three components that represented the main aspects of vulnerability for the whole of Slovakia, with each of the components having a different geographical distribution. The results confirmed the differential conditionality of energy vulnerability in the regions studied and the heterogeneity of the impacts of each component. The paper provides insights into vulnerable households, differentiated levels of energy vulnerability of regions in Slovakia, as well as information on the conditions, factors and causes that cause and condition them in each region. The results obtained are useful in regional, social and energy policy, especially in the development of strategies and measures that should lead to effective energy vulnerability reduction in the identified regions and energy-vulnerable populations.