From :
For :

The Current State of the Power Industry in Slovakia

The current global and financial crisis as well as the temporary disruption of the gas supply from Russia has recently given rise to discussions on the extent to which Slovakia is a self-sufficient country, on the way they can eliminate its dependence on foreign energy resources and on how they will deal with the economic crisis faced around the world.

Interview with Peter Žiga
Economy Ministry State Secretary of the Slovak Republic (MH SR)

Which divisions and supervisory bodies are in charge of the energy sector in Slovakia?
The issues of the energy sector come under the jurisdiction of the power industry section of MH SR, which is composed of the following departments:

Power Industry and Resources Policy Department
International Relations in Power Industry Department
Fuel and Power Industry Department
Regulation Analyses Department

The section currently employs 36 people. As the State Secretary of MH SR I am responsible for:

Strategy Section
Trade and Customer Protection Section
Power Industry Section or the Department of Legislation and Law

ADVERTISING

How would you assess Slovakia’s overall self-sufficiency in the question of energy or its dependence on foreign resources?
The power industry impacts all national economy sectors and is one of the fundamental pillars of the economy. We understand that energetic security is a part of national security and therefore we give the highest priority to this issue.

Slovakia’s energetic self-sufficiency has currently emerged as an issue especially in relation to the anticipated shutting down of electricity generating plants – the shut –down of the V1 nuclear plant in Jaslovské Bohunice – as well as with regards to the gas crisis in January. The gas crisis has categorically confirmed the urgent need for energy resources and a diversification of transit routes, especially in the case of natural gas, as well as the need for a mutual interconnection of energy networks within Europe or the European Union. Besides the diversification of resources, we will need to encourage more intense use of domestic energy resources and renewable resources – let’s not forget either that we must focus on improving energy efficiency in every area of the national economy. These sorts of measures alone will help increase energy safety and, at the same time, reduce power dependence of individual countries on any one state.

Slovakia was self-sufficient for years, regarding electricity supplies, but the shutting down of the V1 nuclear plant in Jaslovské Bohunice on 30 December 2006 was a turning point, changing Slovakia into an electricity importer. Even worse, our country will most likely have to face these unfavourable conditions until 2012 – when Unit 3 will be opened in the Mochovce power plant.

We need to understand what measures serve to improve a country ‘s energetic security:

Adequate electricity resources located in Slovakia
Energy resources and diversification of transit routes for natural gas and oil
Nuclear power industry development
Increasing local power generation with the support of renewable energy resources, especially the use of biomass potential
Reducing overall energy consumption through a decrease in energy demands and an increase in energy efficiency

What specific investment into the power industry do you plan in the years to come?
The chief priority for investments within the power industry is indisputably the completion of Units 3 and 4 of the Mochovce nuclear power plant with an installed capacity of 880 MW. Construction with an estimated cost of 2.77 billion EUR was officially begun in November of last year. The starting date for operations at the Units was set for 2012 and 2013 by the investor Slovenské elektrárne, a.s. and over 3,000 workers should be involved in the work.

In November of last year work was also commenced on the construction of a thermal power plant with a combined steam and gas cycle near Malženice with an installed capacity of 430 MW and with estimated costs of 400 million EUR. The construction investor is E.ON Elektrárne, s.r.o. The launch of the power plant’s operation is projected for the end of 2010.

Vodohospodárska výstavba, š.p. is planning to implement Sereď – Hlohovec Waterworks on the river Váh. It will reach an installed capacity of 52 MW.

We are considering launching projects related to renewable energy resources on the basis of biomass and waterpower in the very near future.

In any case, we must emphasize that the construction of the large power plants mentioned above will not only contribute to the energetic self-sufficiency of the Republic but will also significantly boost employment in the regions involved due to the number of workers needed during construction.

Will the power industry be negatively impacted by the world economic crisis also?
The current economic crisis in the world is serious and our vision of the future is clouded by great uncertainty. The crisis has severely impacted the real economy by a significant deterioration in performance and an increase in unemployment. The Slovak Government understands its responsibility but also its own limited means for tackling the global crisis. In spite of this, the Slovak Government has adopted legislative measures in order to lessen the impact of the crisis on the Slovak economy and the Slovak standard of living as much as possible.

On 17 February 2009 the Slovak National Council endorsed an amendment to Act No. 656/2004 Coll. on Energy, thereby applying one of the measures approved of in relation to the January energy crisis, which resulted from the interruption in natural gas supplies. The amendment will help to curb the negative impact of the crisis and prevent the onset and accumulation of serious economic damage in industry caused by the disruption of the gas supply, which we witnessed at the beginning of this year.

The objective of the amendment is to prevent a fresh failure to supply gas to consumers in Slovakia, to ensure its steady supply, to avoid and prevent emergencies due to disruptions in the gas supply and to enhance price regulation by regulating access to storage tanks and gas storage.

The following are some specific measures adopted by the Slovak Government to overcome the impact of the global crisis in the field of power industry related structural policies:

The adoption of measures to ensure increased domestic energy consumption from domestic resources in order to diminish the negative balance of energy generation and consumption and to support the Slovak industry in building new energy capacities
The support of decreasing energy demand and increasing energy efficiency
The development of an energy efficiency scheme. Within the framework of a „Competitiveness and Economic Development“ operational programme MH SR supports projects, which focus on renewable energy resources

We must understand that the global financial and economic crisis has certainly impacted the power industry too. As a result of the decrease especially in industrial production, energy consumption has fallen. The decreased consumption of electricity for example may lead to a slowdown in certain investments being made and this is why the construction of energy plants (besides the construction of motorways), and investment into the use of renewable resources and into the insulation of buildings could shortly become very effective tools in lessening the negative impact of the current crisis on economic development. Practically speaking: creating new jobs will increase employment not only in individual regions but also in the whole of Slovakia.

By Beata Pašková
Photo: Archive MH SR, iStockPhoto