Photo: Talum
Aluminium producer Talum plans to install solar power plants of up to 60 MW overall. The project could boost utility-scale solar in Slovenia, where small PV facilities installed by firms and households account for almost the entire operating capacity of 1.5 GW.
Currently the largest solar power plant in Slovenia has a capacity of 7.1 MW. Located near the village of Krvavi Potok, it started operating in July.
Notably, the expansion of the Prapretno photovoltaic plant is underway – from 6 MW to 9.8 MW. The largest project is for the Družmirje floating solar plant, for 140 MW.
Talum told state news agency STA it is developing a project to install large solar power plants on the area of its two closed waste landfills in Kidričevo that have valid environmental permits, public broadcaster RTV SLO reported. The endeavor is in accordance with the Law on the Introduction of Devices for the Production of Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources as well as with sustainable policies, it added.
Talum is awaiting response from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning
The company’s project design envisages the installation of solar power plants with a total capacity of up to 60 MW at the landfills.
The company initiated a project approval procedure in July at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning, including additional studies. It said it would proceed with preparing the necessary documentation and other activities for the construction, after receiving a response.
It isn’t the first solar project for Talum. In 2023, it installed solar panels of 3.78 MW altogether on five buildings. Additionally, the company hosts two battery energy storage systems (BESS) on its land. NGEN commissioned a 15 MW / 30 MWh unit in 2020, and GEN-I inaugurated a 12 MW / 24 MWh facility a month ago. NGEN has also announced it would install a 70 MW BESS on the site.
Red sludge danger
Local NGO Gibanje za Kidričevo has objected to the project in a letter to Prime Minister Robert Golob and the European Commission.
Solar power plants shouldn’t be built on such sites, according to the group.
It recalled that in 2014, the European Commission classified red mud as hazardous mining waste, following an accident in Hungary four years earlier.
Talum responded that the red mud landfill has a valid environmental permit as a non-hazardous waste landfill.
The project design for the solar power plants envisages the implementation of additional measures on the closed landfills aimed at improving the state of the environment, the company explained.
Of note, Talum used to produce aluminum, but after closing its electrolysis facility, it switched to recycled aluminum products.
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