The construction of the first pumped-storage hydro plant in Slovenia, the Avce plant, has entered the second phase, as equipment and building contracts worth EUR 86.6m were signed on Monday, representing about 70% of the total investment.
The main construction works will be carried out by Slovenian construction companies Primorje and SCT, while power-generation equipment will be supplied by a consortium of the companies Melco, Rudis and Sumitomo.
Contracts for the remaining equipment are to be finalised this year, Soske elektrarne, the company operating hydro plants on the Soca river, said in a press release on Monday.
The plant, one of Slovenia's biggest energy projects currently under construction, is scheduled to be brought online in 2008, generating 426 GWh of electricity a year. The power thus generated will only be used in peak demand.
At times of low demand, excess power capacity is used to pump water into a higher reservoir. When there is higher demand, water is released back into the lower reservoir through a turbine, generating electricity. Reversible turbine/generator assemblies act as pump and turbine.
Soske elektrarne is a part of the Holding slovenske elektrarne (HSE), the biggest power utility in the country.
The government Monday appointed Economics Minister Andrej Vizjak one of its representatives on the HSE supervisory board because of what the Economics Ministry terms "important projects in the energy sector". The ministry said that Vizjak's appointment created "a link between the ministry and the energy sector".
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