Dravske Elektrarne Maribor eyes investments in wind, solar, geothermal, storage

Slovenia’s power utility Dravske Elektrarne Maribor (DEM) plans to invest in wind farms, solar parks, geothermal power plants, storage capacities, and small hydropower plants.

DEM’s plan envisages the construction of three wind farms, solar photovoltaic plants, geothermal power plants, pumped storage projects, and SHPPs, said Andrej Tumpej, director of DEM, which operates as a part of Holding Slovenske Elektrarne (HSE).

The company plans installation of 13 wind turbines

DEM operates eight large hydropower plants (HPPs) with almost 600 MW in installed capacity, five small hydropower plants (SHPPs), and four solar PV systems.

Tumpej said that a total of 13 wind turbines are planned at three different locations in northeastern Slovenia. The investment is estimated at EUR 65 million.

Solar PV systems will be installed on the location of two hydropower plants

For all three projects – Ojstrica, Paški Kozjak, and Rogatec – the government has adopted national zoning plans which means that all necessary studies are in the pipeline to determine the feasibility of the investment, he said.

A 30 MW solar power plant will be located on the inlet and outlet channels of the Zlatoličje and Formin hydropower plants.

According to Tumpej, a comprehensive map on the potential of deep geothermal energy was prepared. There is potential to use it for power generation, he added.

Planned installation of 3 GW of solar will require large storage facilities

The company’s development projects also include electricity storage facilities like pumped storage hydropower plant Kozjak. If Slovenia installs 3 GW in solar power plants, as planned, the need for storage will be enormous, Tumpej said.

The new Cirkovce-Pince transmission line is also suitable for the pumped storage project which could be used by countries in Central Europe.

The company will continue to construct small hydropower plants on Drava river tributaries and other suitable smaller watercourses.