Slovenia Green Lights New Nuclear Power Project

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Slovenia looks set to get a second nuclear power unit following the government green light for the proposed project at the existing Krško nuclear power plant.

Referred to as the JEK2 project, developer GEN Energija (Ljubljana, Slovenia) is hoping to construct a pressurised water reactor (PWR) with a generating capacity of roughly 1,100 megawatts (MW), which will be capable of supplying eight to 12 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year. It will cost an estimated US$4.7 billion.

"The energy permit for JEK2 is a milestone with which we start the implementation of administrative procedures and preparation of documentation for investment decisions on JEK2, which is a necessary basis for the final decision on the optimal energy scenario for the future supply of low-carbon, energy-independent Slovenia," said Slovenia's Minister of Infrastructure, Jernej Vrtovec. "At the same time, with the energy permit for JEK2, we are also opening a public debate with the desire to achieve the widest possible social consensus on the issue of supporting a clean, green energy future. In the Climate Strategy, we have set ourselves the goal of achieving net-zero emissions or climate neutrality by 2050. This is a great challenge, and we have important decisions ahead of us that will affect the well-being and the environment in which generations will live behind us."

"The feasibility studies carried out so far show that JEK2 is a technically, environmentally and investment-feasible project for Slovenia's future reliable electricity supply, which adequately responds to the key challenges of the energy trilemma and enables Slovenia to effectively face the challenges of the green electricity transition," added GEN Energija Chief Executive Officer Martin Novšak.

Slovenia, part of the European Union (EU), has committed to net-zero emissions by 2050 and recently released its Climate Strategy Until 2050 plan. Nuclear power is expected to play a key role in that transition. The Krško nuclear plant was constructed in the late 1970s and commissioned in 1981. It was developed with neighbouring country Croatia, when both were part of Yugoslavia. It comprises a 696-MW Westinghouse pressurised water reactor which received a 20-year life extension in 2015, subject to inspections in 2023 and 2033 according to the World Nuclear Association. Power is shared 50/50 between each country, and Krško is owned and operated by Nuklearna Elektrarna Krško (NEK), which is jointly owned by Croatia's Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP Group) and Slovenia's GEN Energija.

Nuclear is the key power source in Slovenia today, at 36%, followed by coal (30%), hydropower (28%) and natural gas (3%), with the remainder divided between biofuels and waste, and solar. The country's only remaining coal-fired plant, Šoštanj, is due for closure by 2033, but this may be forced to happen in the next few years due to the high price of emissions allowances from the EU.

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