Preparations for the scheduled maintenance in spring 2021 are already ongoing at nuclear power plant Krsko. NPP Krsko said that it is on the way to exceed this year’s electricity production plan of 5.95 billion kWh.
The statement from the plant said that NPP Krsko has been in uninterrupted operation since the fall of 2019 which reaffirms its high availability and is well on its way to achieving and exceeding the planned 5.95 billion kWh of electricity by the end of the year. It is also emphasized that, despite the pandemic and consequent lockdowns, NPP Krsko has intensively and successfully managed all investment projects and preparations for the spring 2021 maintenance.
Next year, the challenges will be to maintain a high level of safety and operational efficiency and a successful spring overhaul, completion of projects of the safety upgrade program and administrative procedures to extend the operational life of the power plant – with the uncertainty of prolonged pandemic, said the company. The statement also reminds that the nuclear power plant has already exceeded 420 days of uninterrupted operation at full power and delivered the agreed quantities of electricity to its owners (co-owners of the nuclear power plant are Slovenian Gen Energija and Croatian power utility HEP).
Last year, Prime Minister Marjan Sarec said during the visit to NPP Krsko that the country needs to built a second unit at the plant in order to avoid any electricity shortages in the future. He stressed that the future development of energy infrastructure is determined by rising electricity needs, digitalization and infrastructure interconnection in the light of the challenges posed by the fourth industrial revolution and the obligation to reduce carbon emissions under the 2050 Energy Strategy. He noted that in 20 years, the existing unit of NPP Krsko will be decommissioned, as well as Slovenia’s largest coal-fired TPP Sostanj, mainly due to environmental reasons. If the country is not going to build new thermal capacities or wind farms then the construction of the new unit at NPP Krsko is the only solution for stable electricity supply in the future. It is estimated that the cost of the expansion of NPP Krsko to total installed capacity of 1,200 MW would range between 3.5 and 5 billion euros.
