STA, 18 February 2021 - The Slovenian energy group GEN-I sold a record 127.4 terawatt hours of electricity last year to generate the highest net profit to date. At EUR 15.4 million the profit was one percent above that posted in 2019 despite revenue falling by 4% to EUR 2.1 billion.

The group, active in trade, retail and purchasing of energy products, was successful across all its divisions and has been improving its financial position further with capital growth, the group said in a regulatory filing with the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 40% to EUR 32.07 million. Pre-tax profit increased by 6.4% to EUR 20.2 million.

The release also said that the group was keeping its net financial indebtedness low.

Addressing reporters, the company's chairman Robert Golob said GEN-I had managed to adapt well to the situation changed by coronavirus, having invested heavily into digitalisation in recent years.

During what was a highly volatile year in financial and energy markets, the group stepped up electricity trading to sell 70% more electricity for what is almost ten-fold Slovenia's entire consumption, said Golob.

They purchased and sold the bulk of electricity in international markets of Central Europe.

Despite the drop in revenue, the group remains the second largest company in Slovenia in terms of revenue.

Golob said one of the key goals last year had been boosting customer relations, hence the decision to reduce power bills of more than 180,000 existing customers by 15% at the cost of EUR 2 million in the first wave of the epidemic.

GEN-I also put 845 self-supply solar plants into use last year, for a total of more than 21,000 so far. Golob expects growth in the field to continue in the future. Out of 24 planned mid-sized and large solar plants, 10 have been put up already.

The company fully removed fossil fuels from the electricity it supplies in Slovenia starting from 1 January and the customers were offered to decide themselves which non-carbon source they want to get their electricity from.

Unless a major difference in price, initial experience shows about 60% of consumers prefer solar over nuclear. "If there's benefit with nuclear, only 10% will opt for solar," said Golob, adding that the cost dictated the choice of source more than persuasion.

STA, 9 January 2020 - The government has drafted mining act changes, under which high-volume fracking would be prohibited in Slovenia. The changes also lay down conditions for low-volume fracking. This comes after several unsuccessful attempts by opposition parties to ban fracking altogether.

The changes draw the limit between low-volume and high-volume fracking at 1,000 cubic metres of water per fracking phase or 10,000 cubic meters per entire fracking procedure.

While high-volume fracking would be banned, low-volume fracking would be allowed under several conditions, including that all ingredients in the fracking fluid and proppants must be known and approved for use in Slovenia.

Moreover, there can be no surface outflow of pollutants and they must not pollute the soil, water or air. Pollutants on the surface must be handled according to relevant rules, and must not contaminate underground water.

What is more, fracking must not come into contact with an aquifer and must not cause damage to other activities near the drilling wells.

Answering a question from the opposition earlier this week, Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec said that the changes "are substantially more restrictive than the provisions proposed by the European Commission," because the latter does not find low-volume fracking dangerous and does not regulate it.

"The technological method, just like any dangerous technological in the industry, will be safe for the people, the environment and nature," Vrtovec said in written answer to SocDems MP Dejan Židan.

The changes were put up for public consultation by the Infrastructure Ministry two weeks ago and stakeholders have until 22 January to comment.

The British company Ascent has been trying for years to get approval for fracking in Petišovci, NE, while left-leaning parties have attempted to get fracking banned three times.

STA, 4 January 2020 - The Ajdovščina municipality in western Slovenia has set up the first community solar array for local electricity supply. Seven households are involved.

The pilot project by energy group Gen-I and the municipality uses the roof of a public facility, a primary school in the village of Budanje, to supply electricity to seven buildings.

"This is the first such community project. It allows people to come up with their own solar plant, not on their roofs, which perhaps they don't even have, but on the roof of a public facility," Gen-I director Robert Golob told the STA.

The company funded and implemented the project. Local residents were then offered to lease the solar modules from Gen-I.

"Today, the solar plant is rented out in its entirety to seven families, who will get their electricity at a significantly lower price for ten years compared to what they have been paying so far," Golob added.

The 55.68kW solar array is expected to generate more than 58,000 kWh of electricity per year.

Another solar plant is planned on the roof of the Ajdovščina community health centre, the municipality told the STA. The project will bring together a larger community, up to 30 users.

Gen-I has been discussing such community endeavours with a number of municipalities. The Ajdovščina project is a milestone that could serve as a model. According to Golob, there are a lot of roofs on public buildings in Slovenia that could be used this way.

For a long time it was only possible for individual households to build solar arrays, but a government decree adopted in mid-2019 made it possible to implement such community projects.

STA, 20 November 2020 - A renewed attempt by the opposition to ban the extraction of natural gas through hydraulic fracturing in Slovenia, was rejected in a 39:40 vote in parliament on Friday. While some coalition members agree with a ban, they want to wait for what was described as comprehensive solution being drawn up by the Infrastructure Ministry.

While the first motion to amend the mining act with a ban on what is also known as fracking, tabled by the opposition Left, was rejected at committee level last month, the renewed attempt, coming from the four left-leaning opposition parties, was rendered unfit for further reading at Friday's plenary.

Thursday's discussion saw the Left's Nataša Sukič highlight the dispute with British company Ascent Resources, which she said has been pushing to introduce fracking at the Petišovci gas field in the north-east of Slovenia for decades.

Ascent Resources has begun procedures for an investor dispute against Slovenia over the decision of Slovenian authorities that an environmental impact assessment is needed before any permits can be issued for hydraulic fracturing.

While Sukič spoke of a "dirty technology that is also proving abroad as destructive for the environment and the health of local populations", the government disagrees with the proposed changes, which also stipulate that already issued permits and mining rights and applications for them would need to be "coordinated" with the ban as well.

Infrastructure Ministry State Secretary Blaž Košorok argued that the motion was not worded appropriately and did not take into account the consequences of interference with obtained rights to use hydraulic fracturing to extract hydrocarbons, for which an environmental impact assessment needs to be conducted.

Franci Kepa of the senior coalition Democrats (SDS) said strategies needed to be thought through carefully also because of responsibilities toward potential investors in this field.

"The Infrastructure Ministry has been drawing up changes to the mining act for some time...It is not good to change the act just because of a single issue; instead, a comprehensive and complex approach is necessary," Kepa said.

A similar view was taken by other coalition parties, although the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and the Modern Centre Party (SMC) expressed support for a ban in principle, while Mihael Prevc of New Slovenia (NSi) argued hydraulic fracturing should be discussed by experts and not politics.

Gregor Perič of the SMC spoke of "a strange case of amnesia" on the part of those forgetting that the mining act and Slovenia's mining strategy consider hydrocarbons as resources of strategic importance. He added the changes proposed by the opposition brought more questions than answers.

All opposition parties begged to differ, rejecting the systemic or comprehensive solution argument and highlighting the right of the inhabitants of Petišovci to live in a healthy environment.

"We find it nonsensical for such a good legislative proposal to be rejected merely on the basis of the excuse we are waiting for a systemic of comprehensive solution," Soniboj Knežak of the SocDems said.

"The company wanting to frack in Petišovci comes from the UK, where fracking is banned. It has also been banned in France, Germany, Ireland as well as Bulgaria, and it is high time that this invasive and dangerous method...also be banned in Slovenia," Knežak added.

STA, 22 October 2020 - British company Ascent Resources has entered into direct negotiations with Slovenia in a bid to potentially settle the dispute over permits for the extraction of gas in the north-east of the country.

In an announcement made in a filing with the London Stock Exchange, Ascent Resources says the negotiations will be carried out on a strictly confidential basis.

The company says the negotiations will not prejudice its rights to pursue its investment treaty claim under the UK - Slovenia bilateral investment treaty and the Energy Charter Treaty.

Claiming that Slovenia is breaching its obligations under the two treaties to the detriment of the company's investments in Slovenia, Ascent Resources has formally begun procedures to start an investor dispute against Slovenia at international arbitration.

The request for arbitration cannot be entered after the expiry of a three-month period in which the parties can try to solve the dispute amicably.

According to explanations recently provided by the Slovenian State Attorney's office, request for arbitration can be filed after 23 October unless the dispute has been resolved by then. This is because the official notification on the existence of the dispute was handed to Slovenia on 23 July.

The company alleges that through Slovenia's violation of its obligations under the two treaties, it has sustained considerable harm, considering it has invested more than EUR 50 million in the development of the Petišovci oil and gas field.

The Slovenian Environment Agency issued a decision in March that an environmental impact assessment is needed before a permit can be issued for extraction of gas in Petišovci by re-stimulating two currently producing wells as planned by Ascent Resources and its Slovenian partner Geoenergo. The decision was upheld by the Administrative Court in June this year.

All our stories on Ascent Resources and Slovenia

STA, 14 October 2020 - Prime Minister Janez Janša, his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban and Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman addressed a ceremony in the north-east of the country on Wednesday launching construction of a power line that will link the three countries.

The 80-kilometre power line between Cirkovce near Ptuj and Pince on the border with Hungary will establish a link between the Hungarian and Slovenian national grids and consequently Croatia's.

The EUR 150 million project has been almost two decades in the making, mainly due to lengthy zoning procedures.

Janša noted that it took ten times as long to prepare the project as it would to build it; ELES, the national grid operator, expects for the 2x400 kV power line to be linked internationally by the end of 2021 with the project to be fully completed with final details by the end of 2022.

[FOTO] [VIDEO] @JJansaSDS ob otvoritvi začetka izgradnje daljnovoda Cirkovce-Pince: Samo politična povezava, brez energetskih in infrastrukturnih povezav, je mrtva črka na papirju.https://t.co/JqapgFEXpY pic.twitter.com/RuT1UvuWbv

— Vlada Republike Slovenije (@vladaRS) October 14, 2020

"Unfortunately, we have terrible difficulties in Slovenia when it comes to the speed of development projects and their siteing, not so much with construction as with red tape," Janša said, adding that the project should serve as a further encouragement that procedures should never again take that long.

He said the power line was of exceptional importance not only for Slovenia but for a broader region despite the fact that electricity was being taken for granted, just like health before one got sick.

He thanked those responsible in Hungarian and Croatian institutions for making the project possible, praising excellent cooperation between the three countries during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in spring.

Orban labelled today's event as historic, not only because of the energy link between the two countries, but also because of a vital moment between the nations.

He said Central Europe was gaining on significance as the centre of development was moving eastward. "The EU is not just a German-French matter, it's also links between the countries that are gaining on value, which is making them a site of geopolitical games and interests of the big ones," said Orban.

He underscored energy policy and cooperation in the field as an important aspect that boosts the region's position. He predicted a further step in that direction as Slovenia and Hungary agree enhancing their gas pipeline and rail links.

The Croatian foreign minister said the power line construction was in the interests of the whole EU as the bloc sought to strengthen infrastructure links in Central Europe.

He said additional steps would be needed in the future to make the energy system reliable in the long term because the role of the sector would be vital for the EU's economic recovery.

ELES boss Aleksander Mervar said the power line would create the first cross-border link with Hungary's grid, thus increasing the system's reliability.

The project is valued at about EUR 150 million, of which EUR 50 million will come in EU funds.

After the ceremony, Janša and Orban met over working lunch for discussion on bilateral matters, topical EU issues and the coronavirus pandemic.

STA, 8 October 2020 - Ngen, an energy system solutions company, launched its second battery storage in Kidričevo on Thursday. The EUR 15 million system, located near aluminium maker Talum and considered the biggest in the wider region, will store excess energy. It is similar to that the company has launched in Jesenice, near the Acroni steelworks.

Ngen boss Roman Bernard said that the power of connection of the Tesla-made battery was 15 megawatts and has a capacity of 30 megawatt hours. The company has developed its own software solutions steering all devices connected to the system.

"This is only the beginning. For now, we are only linked to the primary grid," he said, adding that the battery takes advantage of all effects of energy surges or drops in the grid. This is overseen by grid operator Eles, while Ngen carries out the service, he said.

"Battery storage will allow us to reduce deviations. These occur, for example, when solar plants produce excess energy on sunny days," Bernard illustrated at the opening, which was also attended by President Borut Pahor.

Talum, majority-owned by Eles, was chosen as a location for the battery storage because the company has the required infrastructure and appropriate connections to the grid, and uses a lot of power.

Talum believes the storage system will provide an additional level of energy security, allowing the facility to operate in case of short-term power outages.

On the other hand, energy from Talum's generators will be stored in the battery, which will allow the company to provide systemic services and help provide better stability of the grid.

The Talum launch comes shortly after Ngen, in cooperation with hardware retailer Merkur, launched the sale of Tesla household batteries. These are 6 kilowatt solar units with a battery capacity of 14 kilowatt hours.

Ngen was established two years ago. It was co-funded by Bernard and Damian Merlak who made millions by selling his cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp in 2018.

STA, 9 September 2020 - The UK-based company Ascent Resources has formally begun procedures to start an investor dispute against Slovenia at international arbitration for taking measures to protect its groundwater from fracking, the NGO Friends of the Earth has announced.

On its website, the NGO released a letter addressed to Prime Minister Janez Janša, Foreign Minister Anže Logar and Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak on 23 July by the London law firm Enyo Law, which says it represents Ascent.

In the letter Ascent formally notifies the existence of the dispute, while also expressing willingness for negotiation in "hope that an amicable solution can be found to the present dispute".

The letter alleges actions by Slovenia in breach of its obligations under the UK-Slovenia bilateral investment treaty and the Energy Charter Treaty, which it alleges caused considerable harm to the investors' investments in Slovenia.

They say the investors have invested sums in excess of EUR 50 million in the development of the Petišovci oil and gas field.

Enyo Law alleges that the Environment Agency (ARSO) has missed deadlines in issuing its decision on the application for a screening assessment, and that its decision that an environmental impact assessment was required was at odds with with opinions issued by other Slovenian government authorities and institutions.

"The ARSO decision was not based on the recommendations of Slovenia's own experts and, furthermore, it contradicted the opinions they gave. It is therefore manifestly arbitrary and unreasonable," reads the letter.

The law firm also says that while the procedure at ARSO was ongoing, the Slovenian minister of the environment and spatial planning repeatedly made public statements portraying Ascent and the Petišovci project in a negative light, and that leaks were made by ARSO to the press.

The letter says that this "further demonstrates that ARSO was biased against the investor and that the ARSO decision was politically motivated".

With the letter, investors formally consent to submit their investment dispute with Slovenia to international arbitration, which is considered a formal notification of the existence of the dispute.

"We sincerely hope that an amicable solution can be found to the present dispute, and will welcome any constructive proposals you may have," reads the letter, adding that Ascent is "ready to engage at a senior level" with the Slovenian government.

Friends of the Earth note that several EU countries have banned or introduced moratoria on fracking, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Slovakia, and Sweden.

ARSO issued a decision in March that an environmental impact assessment is needed before a permit can be issued for extraction of gas in Petišovci in the north-east of the country by re-stimulating two currently producing wells as planned by Ascent Resources and its Slovenian partner Geoenergo. The decision was upheld by the Administrative Court in June this year.

In 2018 the then Environment Minister Jure Leben ordered internal oversight at ARSO, which found pressure and threats had been exerted on the agency's work and that its independence had been undermined. The findings cost the then director of ARSO Joško Knez his job.

Incumbent Minister Andrej Vizjak has also said that he is not in favour of fracking.

All out reports on Ascent Resources in Slovenia

STA, 14 August 2020 - Speaking about a potential second nuclear reactor in Krško, Infrastructure Ministry State Secretary Blaž Košorok has told the STA that Slovenia is and will remain a nuclear country. Košorok, who is convinced Slovenia will need the reactor, called for a fact-based debate as opposed to politicking and appeals to emotions.

While the government recently placed a new nuclear reactor in Krško on the list of strategic projects for post-coronacrisis recovery, Košorok said this did not mean a final decision on the project had been made.

"We are talking about some kind of guidelines, but fact is that Slovenia is and will remain a nuclear country. We've been living with this for more than 40 years and will probably continue living with it," said Košorok.

The official, who described nuclear energy as a safe, reliable and long-term source of power, stressed that the 20-year extension of the life-span of what is currently Slovenia's sole nuclear reactor needs to be secured again first after a recent Administrative Court decision that entails a reinstalling of the original 40-year span ending in 2023.

Košorok is confident that the Environment Agency, which needs to okay the extension through an environmental impact assessment, has enough awareness about the importance of nuclear energy for Slovenia.

He stressed that securing the needed facilities for the storage of nuclear waste was a pre-condition for any decision. The investor, state-owned power utility Gen Energija, which manages Slovenia's half of the Krško nuclear power station, will have to be convicting with a serious investment plan and zoning procedures need to start.

Košorok added the investor will have to convince the asset manager, meaning the Slovenia Sovereign Holding, and key stakeholders, with the plan being that a decision on a second reactor be adopted until 2027 approximately.

Broad social consensus will be needed for a new reactor, especially in light of social and economic development, he added. He said some opposition is expected and normal while urging against politicking and for expertise-based debates.

He spoke of a fairly safe situation, pointing to the recent strong earthquake in nearby Zagreb that had no noteworthy effect on the Krško nuclear power plant whatsoever.

Košorok said it was too soon to speak about any technical details. There are a few interested parties, among them Westinghouse, which also built the existing reactor. Concrete decisions will be taken by experts, he added.

Interest in participation in the project was recently also expressed by Croatia, which co-owns the Krško nuclear power plant and has been cooperating with Slovenia in its management.

"There are ups and downs with any contract, a marriage is also a contract-based relationship that has good and bad moments. And I feel the good moments prevailed here," the official commented, welcoming Croatia's initiative while adding this was just one possible scenario.

The project has also drawn attention in other neighbouring countries, including Austria as a country traditionally opposed to nuclear energy. Talks were conducted as the life-span of the current reactor was being extended and Košorok said there had been "no dramatic opposition".

Meanwhile, the official also reflected on other potential energy projects in the country, highlighting the untapped potential in the Central Sava Valley, which he said could accommodate 10 hydro power plants. He said zoning and spatial planing should start immediately.

He moreover lamented the slow progress it the use of wind energy, saying Slovenia was unfortunately at the very tail end in this respect in the EU.

Košorok has a long track record in the energy industry. He headed the state-owned power utility HSE between 2012 and 2016, having before that spent seven years at the helm of the Ljubljana co-generation plant TE-TOL.

More on nuclear power and Slovenia

STA, 20 July 2020 - A wind farm with a rated capacity of 21.6 megawatts is to be built on a mountain ridge near the border with Croatia, under plans recently endorsed by the Slovenian government.

The government took the decision on 8 July on the implementation of a national zoning plan for six wind turbines on the Maceljska Gora ridge in the area of Rogatec.

The farm is to be built by Dravske Elektrarne Maribor, a subsidiary of the state-owned power group HSE. The type of the production units is yet to be determined but the investor plans technologically advanced units both environment- and efficiency-wise.

The government says the project will contribute to increasing the output from renewables, self-sufficiency of electricity supply and greater diversification and dispersal of energy production sources, all of which is in line with the country's energy policy principles.

The six wind turbines, each with a rated capacity of up to 3.6 megawatts, or a combined 21.6 MW, are to be built in a sparsely populated north-eastern corner of the Rogatec municipality, at least half a kilometre from the nearest settlement.

The wind farm could produce 55 gigawatt hours of power. The units will be connected via a 20 kilovolt cable conduit to the planned Rogatec wind farm substation, and from there by two further cables to the Rogaška Slatina transformer and distribution station.

Each unit is to comprise a tower measuring between 110 and 140 metres in height, and a rotor with a diameter of between 125 and 145 metres. The base with have a diameter of about 25 metres.

Under the national energy and climate plan Slovenia should derive at least 27% of its final energy consumption from renewable sources by 2030. The proportion was at 21.1% in 2018.

Slovenia has 12 locations of various sizes that measurements have shown are suitable for wind farms, but only two wind turbines are in fact in operation - a 2.3-megawatt one and a 0.9-megawatt unit, both located in the south-west.

In 2018 the output of the two wind turbines was equivalent to just 0.04% of Slovenia's energy consumption. They generated six gigawatt hours of electricity.

Despite public support for green energy in principle, opposition to wind farms by environmentalists and NIMBY [ed. not in my backyard] initiatives has been considerable.