Ljubljana - Slovenia ranks just below EU average in terms of barriers blocking wind and solar energy projects, with the biggest obstacle being the difficulty integrating such projects in spatial and environmental planning, a new report by the European Climate Foundation has found.

The first-of-its-kind report, identifying and assessing the barriers blocking wind and solar energy projects in all 27 EU countries and the UK, puts Slovenia's barrier index at 0.82, which compares to 0.83 for the EU27 and the UK.

The report finds that currently no EU country has fully adequate policies that ensure the necessary deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy during the next decade and beyond, and numerous barriers block, slow or hinder the development of these technologies.

"If European nations and the EU are serious about reducing dependence on Russian gas, then these are the barriers that will need to be overcome so that wind and solar PV projects can be built at a higher pace in the coming years," finds the report.

The index assesses the barriers to wind and solar PV deployment in four key areas: political and economic frameworks, markets, administrative processes, and grid regulation and infrastructure. The biggest roadblock are now barriers related to administrative processes.

Slovenia's barrier index is 0.82. It stands highest in administrative processes, at 0.95, and at 0.76 in the other three areas.

The biggest specific obstacles are spatial and environmental planning procedures, negative public perception of wind and bigger solar energy projects, the powers of main actors in the Slovenian energy arena, lack of coordination and consistency between ministries, and a limited energy services market.

Slovenia ranks 18th among the EU countries and the UK. Hungary tops the ranking with the highest barrier index of 0.94. The lowest barriers are in Luxembourg, which has an index of 0.74.