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Main Info

Responsible Body

Ministry of foreign affairs of the Republic of Slovenia
(Ministrstvo za zunanje zadeve)
Prešernova cesta 25, P.P. 481, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia 
Phone: +386 1 478 20 00
Fax: +386 1 478 23 40
E-mail: info.mzz@gov.si
 
Consular department 
Phone: +386 1 478 23 05 
Web Page: http://www.gov.si/mzz/eng/index.html
Location on the Map
Organization Chart

Policy Overview

Energy is “conditio sine qua non” for sustainable development and prosperity of the society and creation of new high added value jobs.  Long-term vision of the development of energy sector in Slovenia is based on the principles of sustainable development, compliance with the environmental Directives and demands of the Kyoto Protocol, long-term availability of energy resources, liberalization of the energy market and consequently accessible competitive prices of energy, efficient energy use, increased energy supply from renewable and alternative energy sources, public awareness regarding energy issues and further diversification of fossil fuels supply (incl. strategic production of lignite in Velenje and electricity production in the nuclear power plant in Krško). While taking into account the main principles mentioned above, the long-term vision of the national energy policy shall be realized through mechanisms ensuring the
  • security of energy supply and energy services,
  • competitiveness and
  • environmental protection.

 

A document setting the long term vision is the National Energy Programme (NEP) – see Main Documents. It provides a legal basis and political consensus for the instruments/ mechanisms to achieve the main requirements regarding energy services, which are key element for the prosperity, economic and technical development.

The Energy Office is responsible for strategic development and management of national energy supplies, mainly electrical power and natural gas. It ensures the proper functioning of the market, plans reliable and economically viable supply of energy in normal and in extraordinary conditions, and oversees the sustainable development of energy systems. It is responsible for the development of systemic energy legislation and for implementing procedures in the area of energy use and supply. It mediates in the strategic processes such as management and privatisation of state assets and state owned energy companies. It also covers energy matters in the country international relations and directs and co-ordinates work of two official bodies in the energy sphere: Agency for Efficient Use of Energy, and the Energy Inspectorate within the Inspectorate for the Environment and Spatial Planning of the Republic of Slovenia. The Energy Office actively cooperates with other main institutions such as Energy Agency and non-governmental organisations operating in the energy sphere.

Milestones

1912   First power plant built and started producing electricity in Fala on the Drava river
1983   The first and only nuclear power plant in Slovenia began comercial operation
1996   Resolution on Strategy of Energy Use and Supply of Slovenia
1997   Slovenia is a Signatory State of the Energy Charter Treaty and its Protocol on Energy Efficiency and Related Environmental Aspects. The Parliament has ratified the Treaty and the Protocol on 4. July, 1997 thus making the Treaty and the Protocol an incorporated part of the legislation.
1999   The Energy Law adopted. It defines the provisions for the goals defined in the Resolution in more detail and also takes into account new provisions and principles laid in the EU Directives 96/92/EC and 98/30/EC.
jan 2003   Partial market opening in energy
apr 2004   Energy Law amended to take into account new EU Directives
apr 2004   Resolution on National Energy Programme adopted

International Cooperation

The main international endevour of Slovenia is, no doubt, the EU. Here, Slovenia actively participates in creating energy legislation and is also activly involved in other energy related programs of the EU, such as the Florence (electricity) and Madrid (natural gas) Fora of regulators and interested parties, as well as Euro-Med cooperation.

Slovenia is also an active member of the Central European Innitiative (CEI) and the Energy Directorate participates in energy related events, although the main organization of CEI events are handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Slovenia is a Signatory State of the Energy Charter Treaty and its Protocol on Energy Efficiency and Related Environmental Aspects. The Parliament has ratified the Treaty and the Protocol on 4. July, 1997 thus making the Treaty and the Protocol an incorporated part of the legislation.

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol thereto were signed by Slovenia on 13.6.1992 and 21.10.1998, respectively. By ratifying the two instruments, Slovenia is bound to reduce green-house gas (GHG) emissions in the period 2008-2012 by 8% compared to the base year 1986. This amounts to reducing CO2 emissions to around 14,000,000 tons per year. As the energy sector includes some of the largest GHG emitters, these limitations will also significantly influence the further development in the energy sector.

Slovenia is also a party to international Conventions and Treaties concerning nuclear safety and handling of nuclear fuel.

Energy Directorate also cooperates with neighbouring countries in the field of energy on various projects, especially concerning electricity production and transmission.

Basic Indicators

Slovenian RENEWABLE Energy Profile

Regarding the share of RES in the primary energy balance and also regarding electricity production from RES, Slovenia is well placed between the most developed European countries. The  largest contribution comes from the hydro power plants (large hydro power plants have more than 10 MW of installed power and produce 24,8% of energy in Slovenia, small hydro power plants have 10 MW or less installed power and produce 4,3% of energy in Slovenia) and biomass (wood and wood residues). With a share of 9.2% Slovenia has the fifth highest share of renewables in the primary energy balance. The average in the EU is 6%. The renewables contribute to the electricity production with a share of 30,6% placing Slovenia in the fourth place; the EU-25 average is 14,2%. The electricity production without large hydro power plants is not so favourable, with the share of 3,5% in the year 2002 Slovenia is placed among average countries; the average of EU-25 is namely 2,9%.

The following table represents the recent level of the use of the renewables and the level expected to be reached in 2010 and 2020. The data are mostly summarized from the Expert Bases for the Resolution of Energy Use and Supply of Slovenia (Ministry for the Economic Affairs, 1995) , some of them are corrected according the latest data and estimations. On general RES level there are no later analysis available, specific data for some of RES are presented further on. New technical and also economical potential is foreseen for wind in the Primorska region, where wind measurements are indicating the possibility for a larger and economical wind exploration.

Energy Potential of the Renewable Energy Sources
  Installed capacity 2000 Production 2000 % of RES contribution to the overall energy (36.511 GWh) Contribution 
2010
Contribution 
2020
1. Hydro Power Plants          
1.1 Large(>10 MW) 750 MW 2.975 GWh 8 960 MW 1.200 MW
1.2 Small (<10 MW) 65 MW 210 GWh 0,5 100 MW 200 MW
2. Biomass          
2.1 Power production 9 MW 36 GWh 0,09 20 MW 40 MW
2.2 Heat-large boilers 350 MWt 700 GWht 1,9 550 MWt 850 MWt
2.3 Heat-small boilers 4.000 MWt 2.500 GWht 6,8 4.400 MWt 5.000 MWt
2.4 Biodiesel 0 0   10.000 TOE 20.000 TOE
3. Wind 0 0   300 MW 600 MW
4. Photovoltaic 50 kW 0,05 GWh 0 3 MW 10
5. Geotermal Energy          
5.1 Power production 0 0 0 20 MW 40 MW
5.2 Heat 103 MWt 400 GWht 1,0 330 MWt 500 MWt
6. Solar Heat Collectors 100.000 m2 30 GWHt 0,08 300.000 m2 500.000 m2
7. Heat Pumps 5.000 kom 40 GWht 0,1 15.000 kom 30.000
8. Use of Wastes 0 0 0 10 MW MWt 20 MWt
Source: Expert separate for RES for the Slovenian National Energy Plan, 2002, ApE.

The presented program of investments in upper table up to 2010 could be compared with the similar programs for RES in the EU countries. On the other hand in the period 1995-2000 the government didn’t succeed to introduce any relevant condition to support investing activities that could contribute to increase of RES share in total energy production. Taking into account that the relevant conditions for support RES will be adopted in due time and the proposed amount of the investments will be executed we could expect the shares for the renewables presented on the right picture below.

Figure 1: Share of RES in the primary energy balance of Slovenia in the years 2000 and 2010
Source: Expert separate for RES for the Slovenian National Energy Plan, 2002, ApE.

The forecast for 2010 is only an overview, based on the recent technical conditions and similar forecasts for other countries. The presented forecast for the RES was prepared within the preparation of the National Energy Plan. The preparation of the plan started already in the 2000 and is recently in the phase of the approval in the parliament. The natural conditions in Slovenia enable Slovenia to broadly exceed these targets, if an adequate regulatory framework and market conditions are implemented. One of perspective regulatory framework in so called feed-in tariff system.

The electricity production with all RES producing electricity listed in the table below is supported trough the feed-in tariff system. This system is foreseen for independent qualified producers1 from which distribution companies2 have to buy electricity on fixed prices from qualified producers (Official Gazette RS, no. 25/02) and with Decree on prices and premiums for purchase of electricity from qualified producers (Official Gazette RS, no. 8/04).

Uniform annual prices for the purchase of electricity from qualified producers and uniform annual premiums (when independent qualified producer sells at uniform annual premium he get paid a sum of adequate premium and market price, which is not necessary higher as uniform annual price) for electricity that the producers are selling individually to the end consumer or via distributor are shown in the table below. In the table QPP refers to qualified power plant but the rest of text is talking about qualified power producer. Qualified power producer can own more different qualified power plants from which he can sell electricity with prices mentioned below regarding the type of power plant.

Uniform Annual Prices and Premiums for Selling Electricity Produced in Qualified Power Plants
Type of QPP regarding the primary energy source Power capacity

Uniform annual price (SIT/kWh)

Uniform annual (SIT/kWh)
Hydroelectric QPP Up to 1 MW inclusive

From 1 MW up to 10 MW inclusive
14,75


14,23
6,75


6,23
Biomass QPP Up to 1 MW inclusive

Above 1 MW
16,69


16,17
8,69


8,17
Wind QPP Up to 1 MW inclusive

Above 1 MW
14,55


14,05
6,55


6,05
Geothermal QPP   14,05 6,05
Photovoltaic QPP Up to 36 kW inclusive

Above 36 kW
89,67


15,46
81,67


> 7,46
Other QPP3   28,97 20,97
Combined QPP using RES4   16,05 8,05
QPP or heating plant using communal waste5 Up to 1 MW inclusive

From 1 MW up to 10 MW inclusive
12,74


11,87
4,74


3,87
Heating plant for district heating Up to 1 MW inclusive

From 1 MW up to 10 MW inclusive
13,90


13,38
5,90


5,38
Industrial heating plant6 Up to 1 MW inclusive 12,86 -

Uniform annual prices and uniform annual premiums do not include VAT. It is foreseen that the prices will be changed once a year with government decree, taking into account the inflation and other relevant factors.


RENEWABLES

Consumption of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) - Projection to 2020
in Mtoe situation projection 2015/2000
1997 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 index %/a
hydro 0.27 0.33 0.34 0.37 0.41 0.42 123.0 1.4%
biomass 0.27 0.33 0.40 0.44 0.45 0.46 139.6 2.2%
other renewables 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.08 0.09 0.09 233.1 5.8%
RES intensity [toe/1995 MEUR] 34.9 38.1 36.7 34.7 32.9 30.7 86.5 -1.0%
RES per capita [kgoe/capita] 286.7 347.5 395.4 448.8 478.8 496.9 137.8 2.2%
TOTAL 0.57 0.69 0.78 0.89 0.95 0.98 136.7 2.1%
Source: NEP

Slovenian NON-RENEWABLE Energy Profile

COAL

Coal Production and Import for 2001
type of coal mine tonnes
lignite Velenje 3,448,145
sub-bituminous Trbovlje 684,972
sub-bituminous (imported) Indonesia 437,900
  TOTAL 4,571,017
Source: Statistical Yearbook of the Energy Industry in Slovenia

 

Coal Production and Consumption Projection to 2020
in Mtoe situation projection 2015/2000
1997 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 index %/a
production 1.49 1.42 1.42 1.25 1.07 1.11 75.3 -1.9%
imports 0.20 0.25 0.32 0.36 0.30 0.19 117.7 1.1%
consumption 1.42 1.36 1.36 1.21 0.96 0.88 71.0 -2.3%
Source: NEP

 

OIL

Imports and Consumption of Oil - Projection to 2020
in Mt situation projection 2015/2000
1997 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 index %/a
oil imports 2.58 2.32 2.47 2.54 2.53 2.51 109.3 0.6%
crude oil 0.54 0.15 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0%
liquid fuels 2.54 2.17 2.47 2.54 2.53 2.51 116.7 1.0%
gross oil consumption 2.58 2.32 2.47 2.54 2.53 2.51 109.3 0.6%
final oil consumption 2.50 2.28 2.44 2.51 2.51 2.47 110.3 0.7%
Source: NEP

 

NATURAL GAS

Natural Gas Consumption Projection to 2020
in million Sm3 situation projection 2015/2000
1997 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 index %/a
industry 732 696 764 786 778 770 112 0.7%
the rest 116 157 214 254 289 319 184 4.1%
energy sector 101 158 208 393 620 907 391 9.5%
TOTAL 950 1,012 1,187 1,434 1,688 1,997 167 3.5%
Sums don't always add up due to rounding of the figures
Source: NEP

 

ELECTRICITY

Production Capacities
Power Plant's Location (abbreviation) Type by fuel Capacity [MW] Annual Production in 2001
Šoštanj (TEŠ) coal 755 3,336
Krško (NEK) nuclear 676 5,030
Drava river (DEM) hydro 584 2,697
Brestanica (TEB) oil and gas 312 101
Soča river (SENG) hydro 144 405
Trbovlje (TET) coal 125 577
Sava river (SEL) hydro 121 354
Ljubljana (TE-TOL) coal CHP 103 400
TOTAL 2,820 12,900
Source: Yearbook of Slovenian electro-industry, 2002


 

Electricity Production Capacity Projection to 2020
in GW situation projection 2015/2000
1997 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 index %/a
nuclear 0.63 0.68 0.68 0.68 0.68 0.68 100.0 0.0%
hydro and wind 1 0.80 0.82 0.92 1.07 1.20 1.25 145.6 2.5%
thermal 1.10 1.32 1.37 1.42 1.52 1.66 115.8 1.0%
TOTAL 2.53 2.82 2.97 3.17 3.40 3.59 120.7 1.3%
1 - including small hydro power plants
Source: NEP


 

Total Electricity Production Projection to 2020 2
in TWh situation projection 2015/2000
1997 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 index %/a
nuclear 5.02 4.76 5.81 5.45 5.36 5.36 112.7 0.8%
hydro and wind 1 3.09 3.83 3.94 4.51 4.95 5.16 129.3 1.7%
thermal 5.03 5.01 5.42 5.84 6.34 8.01 126.5 1.6%
TOTAL 13.14 13.60 15.17 15.80 16.65 18.53 122.5 1.4%
1 - including small hydro power plants
2 - generator production (smaller units production on threshold)
Source: NEP

 

Total Electricity Consumption Projection to 2020
in GWh situation projection 2015/2000
1997 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 index %/a
TOTAL 9,965 10,677 12,289 12,928 13,425 13,925 125.7 1.5%
Source: NEP

 

 

CO2 EMISSIONS

CO2 Emissions - Projection to 2020
in miot CO2 IPPC record projection (based on a model)
1986 1999 2000 2005 2008 2010 2012 2015 2020
electricity and heat production 6.31 5.43 5.51 5.64 5.11 5.26 4.72 4.69 4.89
industry and construction 4.11 2.37 2.12 2.26 2.31 2.36 2.32 2.27 2.25
transport 2.00 3.51 3.95 4.26 4.43 4.51 4.58 4.66 4.67
other sectors 2.05 3.21 2.63 2.85 2.85 2.85 2.83 2.80 2.71
TOTAL CO2 14.47 14.52 14.21 15.02 14.69 14.99 14.45 14.41 14.51
CO2 emissions in base year 1986 14.5              
Kyoto target (-8%) 13.34              
The sums vary because of the rounding up of figures.
Source: NEP

Contact Persons

Dr. Igor Šalamun, Director of the Directorate for Energy
Ministry of the Economy, Kotnikova 5, SI-1000 Ljubljana
Phone: +386 1 478 73 67
E-mail: igor.salamun@gov.si

 

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