HSE shuts down another obsolete unit of coal-fired Šoštanj power plant

Slovenian state energy company Holding Slovenske Elektrarne (HSE) has shut down another environmentally and technologically outdated unit of the country’s largest coal-fired energy facility, the Šoštanj thermal power plant (TPP).

The most recently closed unit of TPP Šoštanj, the 275 MW Unit 4, reached the end of its life after 46 years of operation, according to a news release from HSE.

Previously, Unit 2 was shut down in 2008, Unit 1 in 2010, and Unit 3 in 2014.

Unit 4 operated for a total of 294,854 hours, compared to the average 200,000 hours in the EU, generating over 63 million MWh of electricity.

The 345 MW Unit 5 is to be put back into operation toward the end of the summer following overhaul works to improve environmental protection.

According to the adopted strategic development plan of TPP Šoštanj, the 600 MW Unit 6 is to eventually remain the last coal-fired unit running. Šoštanj also has two gas turbines, each with a capacity of 42 MW.

Šoštanj will now generate about a third of the energy produced in Slovenia on average, with a capacity to cover 50% of the demand in crisis periods, HSE said.