Cement maker Alpacem developing Slovenia’s biggest solar plant

Austrian-owned cement producer Alpacem Cement and Slovenian photovoltaic solutions provider Enertron are developing a solar power project with a battery energy storage system in Anhovo in western Slovenia. With a capacity of 20 MW, the plant is expected to be the largest in the country.

The project involves adding more than 25,000 solar panels to Alpacem’s existing solar power plant at its cement factory in Anhovo. Alpacem, formerly Salonit Anhovo, commissioned the 2.2 MW rooftop solar power plant in 2022 and signed an agreement to expand it by 1.5 MW in 2023.

The new project includes a battery energy storage system (BESS) with an operating power of 16 MW and a capacity of 32 MWh.

The battery system would have 16 MW of operating power and 32 MWh of capacity

The facility is expected to generate about 20,000 MWh of electricity annually, enough to cover the consumption of approximately 5,000 Slovenian households, according to Simon Kragelj, Head of Energy Management at Alpacem.

The company estimates the project will increase the share of electricity from its own renewable sources from about 4% to 18%. Annual savings in CO2 emissions are expected to amount to some 5,000 tons.

The project is targeted for completion by May 2028, Naš stik was told at the company.

Utility-scale solar has yet to take off in Slovenia

Currently, Slovenia’s largest solar power plant has a capacity of just 7.1 MW. Located in the country’s southwest, on the border with Italy, it started operating in July 2025.

The largest planned photovoltaic project in Slovenia is for the Družmirje floating solar plant, with a capacity of 140 MW.

The largest project in the pipeline is the 140 MW Družmirje floating solar plant

Also, aluminum producer Talum has announced plans to install solar power plants with a total capacity of up to 60 MW.

In Slovenia, utility-scale solar has yet to take off, with small PV facilities installed by firms and households currently accounting for almost the entire operating capacity of about 1.5 GW.