The PM Janez Janša is coming.
Dear Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Mr. Janez Janša,
welcome among us.
We are glad that the Minister of the Environment Andrej Vizjak
is also with us on this special occasion.
With us are also the mayors of Hrastnik,
Trbovlje, Zagorje ob Savi and Nova Gorica,
and the Director General of Holding Slovenske elektrarne Viktor Vračar.
I welcome you and all the other guests from the HSE Group
and other important energy companies.
Dear guests, ladies and gentlemen, welcome at the opening
of the biggest solar power station in Slovenia,
the solar power station Prapretno.
The ceremony was opened
by the Workers' Marching Band Trbovlje
with the song Greetings to Friends.
Thank you for the musical introduction
into the green and sustainable story that is being written in Prapretno
by the HSE Group.
Less than a year ago,
we symbolically celebrated the miners' day here
and laid the foundation stone for the solar power station
we are opening today. With the symbolism
of a fair energy transition, it offers us a horizon
which spreads from the chimney of the former thermal power station
to the solar power station which will offer the Zasavje region
a friendlier energy future.
In the HSE Group, they know that the sun is a powerful energy source
and today, they will open a new solar power station,
the biggest in Slovenia.
The solar power station Prapretno is located in the area
that was heavily influenced by energy production.
The 120m tall plateau Prapretno
was created by depositing the fly ash
from the former thermal power station.
After a decade of restoration,
Zasavje is today becoming
an important energy region. That is beautiful.
Ladies and gentlemen, Nuška Drašček.
Nuška, thank you. Now, I give floor
to the Director General of HSE Viktor Vračar.
The HSE Group produces the majority of our electricity.
Dear Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Mr. Janez Janša,
dear Minister of Environment and Spacial Planning Andrej Vizjak,
dear guests. Welcome at the solar power station Prapretno.
Thank you for coming and for the opportunity to open
the biggest solar power station in Slovenia together. The HSE Group
is the most important energy company in the country and we follow
our mission, which is a safe and reliable energy supply.
We have to do that in an effective and economically acceptable way.
Despite the turbulent situation, our goals and standards
are the guidance for our everyday work.
Our goal is to use a diversified portfolio
which includes different sources that complement each other
and to provide a safe and reliable energy supply.
Now, we produce approximately two thirds
of our electricity. Despite the situation in the past months,
we have been trying for years to reduce carbon emissions.
The recent events have put at risk the reliability
and economic efficiency of our energy supply
and the need to restructure our portfolio is even greater.
But we need to cut our carbon emissions in a way
that the supply will not be endangered. The process of doing it
only with renewable sources is long and expensive,
so we need to keep investing
into facilities like the solar power station Prapretno
and to optimize our thermal power station.
Cutting carbon emissions doesn't mean we stop investing,
but we need to keep investing. The European Central Bank estimates
that in the next decade, we will need to increase investments
by €350 billion a year to achieve our goals
and reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources.
In Slovenia, we will need to invest as well.
In the HSE Group, we are planning
to build new facilities for the use of water, wind and sun.
We are also looking into the geothermal potential as a source.
The biggest and key challenge
is not financing, although the external debt of the HSE Group
adds up to 40% of the value of the thermal power station block 6.
We are entering a new investment period
before we will pay back our debt for the block 6.
I want to thank all of you who helped us get a building permit
and all of you who support our efforts for new wind,
solar, hydroelectric and geothermal power stations.
This power station
is special for many reasons. As we have already heard,
we are on the hill made up of ash and other side products
from the thermal power station Trbovlje. This is a unique example
of the recultivation of ruined land to continue producing electricity,
only this time, more environmentally friendly. We preserved the location,
knowledge and tradition of this area. The location is also suitable
according to the average annual solar radiation,
since with a staggering 1230 hours
it belongs to the category of the sunniest places in Slovenia,
comparable to the Slovenian coast.
The first phase of construction has been completed
with about three megawatts of installed power.
In the next two phases, modules will be upgraded
up to a total power of about 14 megawatts,
which is the capacity of the connecting cable
to the Hrastnik substation.
6748 photovoltaic panels
were installed in the first phase
with the 450 watts power rating
and are ready to start supplying the electricity grid
with solar energy.
Although today the weather is not the best for opening a solar power plant,
we are proud to start the regular operation
of the first phase of the solar power plant.
Thank you to everyone who participated.
Thank you very much, Dr. Vračar.
Prapretno has a symbolic meaning
for the HSE Group and the local community.
In the past, this area has been heavily polluted
with the production of electricity in the Trbovlje thermal power plant
and coal mining in nearby mines.
Today, we are reviving Zasavje by investing in renewable resources.
The Prapretno solar power plant
will be able to environmentally friendly and without pollution
supply about 800 average Slovenian households.
I invite Mr. Marko Funkl, Mayor of the Municipality of Hrastnik. Please.
Dear Prime Minister, Minister,
Madam Mayor, both Mayors,
both MPs,
of course, today's host, the CEO of HSE,
and other distinguished guests, I am honoured
to welcome you to Hrastnik and the area
where the largest solar power plant in Slovenia
will become part of the network today.
In 2022, we are celebrating 200 years
since the beginning of mining in Hrastnik.
Industry, the framework of which until recently was energy,
has significantly marked the development and life in our region.
Strategic decisions of the state
on the withdrawal of energy from Zasavje
were followed by the collapse of many subsystems
which paralyzed our region in terms of development.
Today, the region generates about half the value of GDP
compared to the rest of Slovenia.
If the decision to close the mine and the thermal power plant was strategic,
everything that followed was non-strategic.
The region only had one program.
Closure of the mine with included social component,
a decent retirement of miners
and other workers in the Zasavje energy sector.
There were no serious restructuring programs in the region
despite many high representatives of Zasavje in state politics.
Today, many of you drove here from different parts of Slovenia.
Road connections are key for economic development
and consequently for the quality of life in the region.
The G2-108 road, which connects Zasavje and Posavje,
is one of the worst, if not the worst road connection
between two regions in our country.
Traffic is regulated alternately one-way,
with an important addition, only for cars.
The preparation and adoption of the National Spatial Plan
will reach a round anniversary this year,
but the regulation has not yet been adopted.
According to the latest information, which ignites a spark of hope,
the final version is in inter-ministerial coordination
and this very long process will be completed after 10 years.
This will be followed by a demanding
and long construction of the said road,
which the whole Zasavje is looking forward to,
and should, in my opinion,
have been built in parallel with the process of closing the coal mine,
thus being the basis for setting up other activities
and launching the region. On the other hand,
I need to commend intensive meetings
for the arrangement of the connection of Zasavje
to the Šentrupert, Prebold, Trbovlje, Hrastnik road,
but at the same time mention that this project is long-term
and still quite far from realisation.
Living conditions in our region
are shaped not only by the state and the European community,
but also by all municipalities.
Following the path of the green transition,
at the municipal council session on Wednesday
we adopted a sustainable concept of the Hrastnik municipality,
called Green Oak.
Green indicates the transition from brown to green, while the oak
is the symbol of our municipality and represents perseverance,
power, resilience and tradition,
which are also characteristic of the inhabitants of our region.
We want to take even more decisive steps
to a fairer and more climate-neutral municipality,
which will be reflected in the transition to a carbon-free society,
increased self-sufficiency in several areas,
care for a healthy environment, sustainable spatial planning,
community-based community resource management
and social and environmental justice.
The first step on this path
will be the establishment of a community solar power plant
on the roof of the primary school,
which will be the first of its kind in Slovenia.
With the largest solar power plant we are opening today,
and the construction of the solar power plant in Blato,
led by Rudis,
on a hill not far away, Hrastnik is becoming,
in terms of obtaining energy from renewable sources,
one of the most sustainable municipalities in Slovenia.
We are also facing a European transformation
on the path to decarbonisation, called the Just Transition Fund.
The upcoming period will be extremely important
for the Zasavje and Šaleška regions.
Additional resources are crucial to make up for
what we missed when closing.
Numerous projects of the Zasavje economy and local communities
together with the already mentioned road infrastructure
would open the door to the development of Zasavje
and at the same time open up opportunities
for other energy challenges, such as the construction
of hydro power plants on the Middle Sava.
However, today we have gathered for an important occasion
which fills us with optimism.
Energy is returning to Zasavje in a different, greener form.
Opening the largest solar power plant in Slovenia
in Prapretno at the largest landfill of fly ash in Slovenia
is a step that I sincerely welcome
as the mayor of the Hrastnik municipality
and I look forward to continuing and spreading this project
across the border of our neighbouring municipality.
I would like to congratulate HSE for the work they've done.
I know that we have many other great challenges ahead of us,
which we will successfully overcome together step by step.
Thank you and let Hrastnik be the sunniest municipality in Slovenia.
Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor.
Before Nuška and musicians from Trbovlje
take us to 1972,
it is only right to greet and welcome them among us.
Nuška Drašček is one of the most prominent Slovenian singers,
who impresses the audience with her voice, stage presence
and an extremely wide repertoire.
The Trbovlje Workers' Band is one of the most active
and the most recognisable art societies in their town.
During its 115 years of activity,
with many achievements at the national and global level,
it became an indispensable part of cultural activity
in the municipality of Trbovlje.
I mentioned that they will take us back to 1972.
That year, the song Amongst Honest People
won the Slovenian Song Festival.
Where did the author of the text Dušan Velkavrh
and composer Mojmir Sepe draw their inspiration from?
Nuška Drašček and the Trbovlje Workers' Band.
Nuška Drašček and the Trbovlje Workers' Band
with conductor Jože Kotar.
I give the floor to the keynote speaker,
the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia.
Mr. Janez Janša, please.
Dear CEO, Madam Mayor, Mayors, MPs, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Electricity is the foundation of modern civilisation.
Without this invention, our lives would be different.
In the past decades, I can say more than a century,
we obtained most of our electricity from carbon sources.
Today, carbon sources have a negative connotation.
But we must be aware that the development we see today,
even all that is built into solar panels, would not exist
if there were no carbon sources.
In the beginning,
civilisation was not at the stage of harnessing solar energy
or other resources we call sustainable and green today.
From this point of view,
it is right, even though it happened a little late,
that the European Union has now come to a decision
to set up a Just Transition Fund.
By doing so, we will repay those towns, those regions,
as well as the memory of the people,
who for decades with the mining of coal, a carbon source,
provided energy for the generation of electricity
and for the development of civilisation.
When the green transition was first mentioned
at the beginning of this century,
there was no such view.
Earlier, Mr. Mayor talked about Zasavje, Hrastnik and so on.
There are hundreds of similar cases in Europe.
I’ve been to many places where the situation is even worse.
Where the flowering landscapes
or subregions
that lived from coal mining
and the production of electricity from coal
have turned into not only a devastated landscape
which no one took good care of,
but also to a demographically endangered area,
marked by emigration and so on.
We are not the only ones with this delay,
but this must not be an excuse.
Finally, we've received funding.
What Zasavje region has been waiting for for a long time,
will come much faster, if we are smart enough.
The term green transition is a sacred term lately.
Only for the past two years we've been speaking about
a smart and fair transition.
A smart transition means we're not jumping head-first.
We can decarbonize the whole electrical energy production,
shut all the carbon-related energy productions down.
We'll be carbon-free, but what does that mean for the civilization?
This means a step back into something
that we will be trying to get out of
by producing even more carbon dioxide than today.
After a certain period
the EU has entered a mature phase regarding its green transition.
This phase is accelerated by the events in the east,
especially by the Russian aggression on Ukraine.
Despite warnings
and calls that didn't mean much
the infrastructure was being built
that made Europe even more dependent on energy from the east.
This has now drastically changed.
The green transition and the search for new capacities
for electricity production and focus on our own energy sources
have been accelerated.
This is now in budget plans
and medium-term projections of the EU
where it was accepted
and the result is that there will be great financial sources,
both in the shape of grants and credits.
We will have to be smart enough to use this.
As far as solar energy goes... The Sun is older...
It is by far older than any human civilization
or any other civilization out there, if it exists.
Only for the past few years we've learned to use this energy.
After the first panels arrived,
the forecasts were optimistic. They said in 10 years,
all the energy will be provided by the Sun
which is an unlimited resource.
The change was imminent.
Anyone who knows a bit about history of electricity knows
that even after the first light bulbs lit the European streets,
people forecast a complete shift in 10 year's time.
As we know this didn't happen
for different reasons.
We know from experience we have to be careful
and realistic.
Your plans estimate
that a half of Slovenian households receive electricity from solar energy.
We will need to invest billions.
Solar energy is green, but the panels are black.
They can't be placed overall. We don't want Slovenia
to become black.
But we have many unused capacities,
we have huge surfaces
on the rooftops of public offices.
Especially in sunny parts of Slovenia.
The possibilities are huge.
The Sun hides at night.
If we want to fulfil these ambitions,
the next few years will need to see the realization
of the breakthrough in electricity storage.
We need a post-lithium period.
There's not enough lithium on the planet to make
enough electrical cars if we wanted a total shift.
There are some promising researches,
but we're not there yet.
A lot depends on achieving technological breakthroughs
and how we're able to realize them.
The history of electricity shows us
that several patents received a go-ahead,
but we're only now beginning to use them.
There are many ifs,
but if we focus on the known variables,
we can say that
Slovenia has a huge untapped potential
for electrical energy production and consumption.
Of course, we need heavy funding.
We need available sources, some we'll have to create ourselves.
The current trend of economic growth makes this possible.
We need to know that the world has changed on February 24 this year.
We're not aware of it enough.
The sources
that are available at home are in this changed world
10 times more valuable than before.
Despite being a part of the Common Energy Market of the EU,
and the price of electricity being determined by
a European formula that is constantly changing,
Slovenia needs to prepare for a situation where this doesn't work
and we can only use electricity that we produce at home.
Not necessarily at home but close to our borders.
That's why building small hydroelectric and solar power plants
something we have to promote not only
because of the green transition but also because of security.
We are one massive cyberattack on the European grid away
from outages that would last days, weeks or even months.
Imagine living a week without electricity.
Imagine how this would look like in hospitals.
Whatever we build that produces electricity
and that is at hand is of immense value
that we start to appreciate when we desperately need it.
Thank you to everyone, who is working towards this goal.
Thank you for your cooperation in building this plant.
To achieve the goals set in our plans
we'd have to build the biggest solar plant every month.
Or bigger than the one before. We've got a lot of work to do.
To produce as much electricity as possible, we need sunny weather.
So I wish you many sunny days. Thank you.
Thank you for your words, Mr. Prime Minister.
Please join me below the stage
together with Viktor Vračar, HSE CEO,
and Marko Funkelj, the Hrastnik municipality mayor.
for the ceremonial ribbon cutting.
Congratulations to the musicians, good luck in your future endeavors.
Dear guests, solar energy is the main energy source on the Earth.
In the course of one year, the Earth receives
two times more energy from the Sun than all the gas, coal, oil and uranium
supplies combined.
It is our future. Green future for future generations.
Today, in Prapretno near Hrastnik, we began to shape it together.
We've made a crucial step towards a climate-neutral society.
We hope to inspire many more.
Thank you for joining me.
I bid you a farewell from Zasavje region.
Good luck!