The operational landscape of Slovenia’s energy sector has recently been affected by an unexpected incident at the Šoštanj Thermal Power Plant. On 10 April, Unit 6 was taken offline prematurely, just one day prior to its planned seasonal maintenance shutdown. This disruption was marked by a notable decrease in output during the morning hours, which aligns with typical patterns seen during unplanned technical interruptions.
The operator indicated that the unit was originally scheduled for shutdown on 11 April following peak electricity demand in the evening, as the heating requirements from the nearby city of Velenje were anticipated to diminish. However, a technical fault necessitated an earlier shutdown, activating the plant’s safety response system.
A disturbance within the generator led to heightened vibrations in the turbine, prompting an automatic shutdown of the turbo-generator unit. In response to this incident, operations for Unit 6 were halted, although heat production continued through gas turbines to maintain supply during this period.
While the outage was unanticipated, it is consistent with the plant’s maintenance timetable. The operator projects that Unit 6 will be back online by approximately mid-September, coinciding with an expected rise in seasonal demand for thermal energy as colder weather approaches.
