January 25 (SeeNews) - Slovenian state-run energy group Gen-Energija aims to launch a second unit at Krsko nuclear power plant in 2035 to compensate for the phase-out of coal in the country's energy mix, COO Danijel Levicar said.
"The launch of a second unit in 2035 is a strategic goal of Gen-Energija, but under conditions. The conditions are that the procedures and the construction run continuously from today onwards," Levicar said in a video file posted on the YouTube channel of private broadcaster ePosavje TV on Tuesday.
Since 2021, when Gen-Energija submitted a spatial plan for the second unit, the procedures have been running too slowly and the completion of the project was postponed to 2035 from 2033, Levicar noted.
In January 2022, Slovenia's government adopted a national strategy to stop using coal for electricity production by 2033. The strategy envisages the closure of the Velenje coal mine, as well as a comprehensive social and economic restructuring of the Zasavje and Savinjska-Saleska regions. 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 production sources into its energy mix.
Slovenia's infrastructure ministry issued an energy permit for the construction of a second reactor unit at Krsko in July 2021, but the decision drew fire from neighbouring Austria, whose constitution bans the use of nuclear fission in its energy supply.
Krsko NPP, located in Slovenia near the border with Croatia, generates some 40% of Slovenia's electricity output. The NPP is located around 100 kilometers from Austria and operates a Westinghouse pressurised light water reactor of 2,000 MW thermal power capacity. The operating company Nuklearna elektrarna Krsko (NEK) is co-owned by Gen-Energija and Croatian power utility Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (HEP).