PM says Ljubljana will be ‘choosing equally between two high-quality and qualified providers’
Slovenia’s prime minister Robert Golob and French president Emmanuel Macron have signed a declaration of intent to establish long-term cooperation in nuclear energy, with France’s state power company EDF one of two in the running as supplier for a proposed new unit at the existing Krško nuclear power station site.
In a press conference following the signing, Golob said: “France is a European nuclear superpower. It is a country that is building its carbon-free future on the development of nuclear energy.”
He added: “If and when Slovenia decides to build the second unit of the Krško nuclear power plant, it will be choosing equally between two high-quality and qualified providers, not only between American technology [Westinghouse], which we already have today, but also between French technology.”
Earlier this year Slovenia’s state-owned power firm GEN Energija signed contracts for feasibility studies with EDF and US-based Westinghouse, marking a key step towards the planned expansion of the single-unit Krško.
GEN Energja said at the time that the third reactor technology bidder, South Korea’s KHNP has pulled out of the project.
The company said the technical feasibility studies would include technological and legal requirements, and safety and implementation aspects. The studies will ensure that the project is planned based on “realistic technical possibilities”, it said.
The 688-MW Krško, supplied by Westinghouse, is Slovenia’s only nuclear station. It is in the east of the country on the border with Croatia and began commercial operation in 1983.
Slovenia has been considering the construction of a second unit at the site. Earlier reports said a final decision would be made in 2027 or 2028 with commercial operation in the mid-2040s.
In January 2023, Slovenian authorities approved a 20-year operating lifetime extension to Krško, meaning the reactor unit could operate until 2043, a total of 60 years.
Krško is owned equally by Croatian utility Hrvatska Elektroprivreda and Slovenia’s state-owned power generator, GEN Group, the parent company of power company Gen Energija. However, current plans for a new Krško reactor are being pursued solely by Slovenia.
