THE HSE GROUP IS AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE LARGEST PRODUCER OF ELECTRICITY FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES IN SLOVENIA

Renewable electricity sources occupy a strategically important place in our energy balance. In 2009, their share in electricity production in Slovenia accounted for approximately 39.7 percent (4,949 GWh), to which the electricity production of the HSE Group contributed an impressive 80.5 percent. The HSE Group, which alongside a coal mine and two thermal power plants also unites Slovenia's three largest hydro power plants, is thus the largest Slovenian producer of electricity from renewable sources. All the Group's future plans are focused on preserving its leading position in the area of environment-friendly(er) energy.

Electricity production in Slovenia follows the guidelines of the European Union regarding sustainable development and attaining the goal of having a 25-percent share of renewable electricity sources in final energy consumption by 2020. The HSE Group is also endeavouring to produce electric power with minimal impacts on the environment, observe legal standards and provisions, and introduce the best technologies ensuring minimal impacts on the environment. Dravske elektrarne Maribor d.o.o., Soške elektrarne Nova Gorica d.o.o., and Hidroelektrarne na spodnji Savi d.o.o. are companies of the HSE Group which produce 3,983.7 GWh (47.4%) of electricity from renewable sources, contributing an impressive 80.5 percent to Slovenia's energy balance in the area of renewable electricity sources. These companies also participate in the Blue Energy project designed to encourage environmentally friendly electricity consumption.

In upcoming years, the HSE Group will jointly construct more than 700 MW of new production facilities from renewable electricity sources, which account for almost 50 percent of the Group's jointly planned investments. At present, the largest projects in this area include the construction of a hydro power plant on the lower Sava River, a hydro power plant on the middle Sava River, the Kozjak pumped storage hydro power plant, and the recently constructed Avče pumped storage hydro power plant, whose opening is scheduled at the end of March. The construction of a hydro power plant on the Mura River is in the planning phase, while other development projects of the HSE Group in the area of renewable electricity sources include the reconstruction of HPP Zlatoličje, a chain of HPPs on the Idrijca River, HPP Učja, the restoration of HPP Doblar 1, HPP Kobarid, HPP Kamno, and others. All of these projects are committed to the safe, reliable, environmentally friendly, and competitive production of electricity.

In the HSE Group and throughout the Slovenian energy sector, numerous opportunities as well as obstacles are appearing in the area of renewable electricity sources. The main complications involve the acquisition of concessions for the use of water and the harmonisation of spatial planning and other documents required for the undisturbed execution of projects involving renewable electricity sources. The procedures for the placement of facilities in physical space are excessively long and additionally burdened by the provisions of Nature 2000, whose sites cover as much as 36 percent of Slovenia's area. Compromises between energy and the environment are therefore decisive for the successful realisation of investments.

»The construction of energy generation facilities stands and falls with the support of the community in which these projects will be integrated and with which they will thrive in the long term. In planning such facilities, it is not only proper technologies that are of key importance, but also and above all successful agreements with all those who are in any way connected to electric power plants. We can say that placement in physical space was truly successful only when it is supported by the local population in all aspects – both environmental and in terms of the advantages which such projects and facilities offer. And today we know that there are more advantages than weaknesses, all we have to do is properly present, carry out and value them,« concludes Borut Meh, General Manager of Holding Slovenske Elektrarne.

The HSE Groups is also conducting several resounding informative-educational and promotional projects in the areas of sustainable development and renewable electricity sources. The most well-known among them is by all means the Blue Energy project (www.modra-energija.si), which has been running since 2004 and has registered an exceptional response from the Slovenian public with its most recent campaign, »Slovenian River«. The Group is also active in the area of youth education (www.modri-jan.si) and has in recent years been actively cooperating with schools. In the past year, we have attracted the interest of several thousand young people, who are participating in our projects. In 2007, HSE was also initiator of a campaign entitled You are Energy – Be Effective (www.hse-energija.si), whose aim was to encourage economical energy consumption, and is still running.