Being particularly successful in producing electricity from renewable sources in 2020 the HSE Group power plants, the largest Slovenian electricity producer, produced 68 % of all electricity in Slovenia. Hydropower plants, which operate under Dravske elektrarne Maribor (DEM) and Soske elektrarne Nova Gorica (SENG), produced as much as 88 % of all “green” electricity in Slovenia. This is due to good hydrological conditions and the high availability of the power plants throughout the year. In 2020, the share of electricity from renewable sources in the total balance of the HSE Group was 52 %.
In 2020, HSE hydropower plants produced 3,953 GWh of electricity, which is 457 GWh compared to 2019, with the lion’s share contributed by DEM with 3,200 GWh of produced electricity. In the first two months of 2021, the production of HSE hydropower plants amounted to 649 GWh, which is 243 GWh more compared to the comparable period last year. In the first two months of this year, DEM produced 460 GWh of electricity. They exceeded the plan for this period by 51 % and met the electricity needs of two thirds of all Slovenian households. SENG produced 188 GWh of electricity in the first two months, which is 146 % according to the plan.
In the field of electricity production from renewable water sources, the HSE Group has bold plans. In October 2020, after more than a decade of coordination with the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, it signed a concession agreement for the use of water for electricity production in parts of the Sava river from Jezica to Suhadol. In the first phase, hydropower plants Suhadol, Trbovlje and Renke will be located in the area. With their production of 350 GWh, these will replace half of the electricity production from the former Trbovlje thermal power plant, which operated at a nearby location. By building the entire chain on this part of the Sava River, HSE will contribute to a 20 % increase in the production of electricity from renewable sources.
