Slovenia's Eles Teams Up with Austria's Kelag for 25 Mln Euro HPP Upgrade

Slovenian power grid operator Eles said it has signed an agreement with Austria's Kelag for a 25 million euro ($35.4 million) upgrade of a 50 megawatt hydro power plant near the border between the two countries.

Kelag director Herman Egger and his Eles counterpart Milan Jevsenak signed in Ljubljana on March 8 an agreement on joint investment in the upgrade of Austrian hydro power plant Golica, the Slovenian company said in a statement made available to SeeNews on Monday.

Owing to Golica's previously limited capacity to ensure an adequate water level in the plant's storage reservoir, Kelag decided to upgrade the existing hydro power plant, which produces between 10 and 20 GWh of electricity per year, the statement said.

The project will involve the installation of a pump that will draw water from the Drava river, increasing the plant's current power by an additional 35 MW.

Eles's share in the investment project is 5.0 million euro.

The hydro power plant will begin trial operation with a new operating regime in the middle of this year.

The Golica hydro power plant on the Bistrica river was built twenty years ago. Because this investment involves Austria's exploitation of part of Slovenia's energy potential in the joint Bistrica river, Slovenia is entitled to one fifth of the electricity produced at the plant, the statement said.

The Slovenian share of electricity generated by Golica is managed by Eles.

The Kelag concern (www.kelag.at) supplies electricity, heat and natural gas.

($=0.7068 euro)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!