Slovenia to co-finance construction of three waste incinerators

The Government of Slovenia will soon announce tenders for concessions for the construction of three waste-to-energy facilities in the capital Ljubljana, Maribor and Kočevje.

Slovenia currently has only one waste incinerator, Toplarna Celje, which consumes 30,000 of waste a year and produces heat and electricity. After the visit to the facility, Environment and Spatial Planning Minister Andrej Vizjak said the country exports waste which could be thermally treated in the country.

This is one of the reasons why the ministry is finishing a draft decree on the provision of the obligatory public service of municipal waste incineration.

The decree will be adopted shortly, and afterwards the tender for awarding concessions will be launched, he said.

The government intends to grant EUR 60 million to investors

Vizjak said that the municipalities Ljubljana, Maribor and Kočevje have demonstrated interest in hosting new facilities.

About EUR 60 million could be enough for co-financing from the state, he said and added the government must intervene because waste-to-energy could struggle to secure 25-30 percent of the funds needed to start the construction.

The companies with the best offers at the tenders would sell heat at a regulated price.

Vizjak stressed all new incinerators must use the best available technologies (BAT) and operate with the highest environmental standards.

The ministry intends to get high-performance and environmentally friendly facilities with no excessive pollution, and emissions significantly lower than the limit values, similar to the Toplarna Celje unit, Vizjak said.