COO of Gen Energija Danijel Levicar said that the company plans to commission the second unit at its nuclear power plant Krsko in 2035 in order to compensate for the loss of capacity due to Slovenia’s coal phase-out strategy.
Levicar said that the commissioning of a second unit in 2035 is a strategic goal of Gen Energija, but under conditions. These conditions are that the procedures and the construction run continuously from today onwards.
In January 2022, Slovenian Government adopted a national strategy to phase-out coal for electricity generation by 2033. The strategy envisages the closure of the Velenje coalmine. According to estimates, Slovenia will need to import 60 % of its electricity after the completion of the coal phase- out if it does not introduce new electricity generation capacities into its energy mix.
Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure issued an energy permit for the construction of a second reactor unit at Krsko in July 2021, but the decision was opposed by neighboring Austria, whose constitution bans the use of nuclear energy.
696 MW NPP Krsko generates some 40 % of Slovenia’s electricity output. The power plant is co -owned with neighboring Croatia and the two countries split the plant’s electricity generation in half.
