hse group

2.4 ELECTRICITY
EU Starting Points
The EU Directive for the Internal
Electricity Market was introduced in the
EU in February 1997. According to its
stipulations the Member States had two
years to make the appropriate amendments
to the national legislations. In
February 1999 each Member State was
to open at least 26 percent of its market,
followed by a stipulated 28 percent
in 2001, while in the third step in 2003
a full 33 percent of the market has to be
liberalized.
Deregulation of the Slovenian Market
In the Energy Act, which was passed in
Slovenia in September 1999, it was stipulated
that the national electricity market
would be liberalized gradually. The
market was officially deregulated as of
15 March 2001 when the internal market
was deregulated for all eligible consumers,
which includes all those with
an installed capacity of over 41 kW at a
single point of supply (some 8,000 in
Slovenia) and all power distribution
companies. Before the end of 2001 the
Government of the Republic of Slovenia
also decreed that the external electricity
market is deregulated ahead of time
for six of the largest consumers, receiving
their electricity directly from the 110
kW network. In 2003 all other eligible
consumers joined them. All other consumers
(above all households and business
consumers) are tariff consumers;
for them the prices will remain in the
domain of the Government of the Republic
of Slovenia until the legally imposed
boundary of 41 kW is abolished.
Import and Export
The legally stipulated processes of the
deregulation of Slovenian electricity
market are driving towards increased
competition. Thus since the beginning
of 2003 according to the Energy Act all
Slovenian authorized consumers of
electricity are able to buy energy from
foreign suppliers. The quantity of
imported electricity is limited to 20-25
percent of total consumption in Slovenia
with the purpose of providing
reliable supplies. Partly deregulated import
represents a substantially increased
supply in the Slovenian electricity
market.
On the other hand we are recording
rapid growth in the consumption of
electricity. In financial year 2002 the
growth rate compared to the previous
year was at 7 percent. Forecasts for the
following years are also expecting consumption
growth rates to be around 2-
3 percent annually in Slovenia. The forementioned
growth rates and the planned
increase of cross-border transmission
capacities for the export of electricity
to Italy will at least to some extent
alleviate the consequences of increased
supply due to import deregulation.
The bilateral agreement on NEK (Krπko
nuclear power plant) between Slovenia
and Croatia is of great relevance for the
future development of the market position,
as it puts Slovenia in a position of
being a net importer of electricity.
In general we can expect fierce competition
to be taking place in the market in
the future, for which we are well prepared.
HSE GROUP SHARE IN THE TOTAL GENERATED
ELECTRICITY IN SLOVENIA - 2002 1
Production of HSE
Group companies:
6.698 GWh
51%
Other Slovenian
producers:
6.334 GWh
49%
1
The figure for the HSE Group includes the 18
GWh of electricity, generated in small
hydropower plants below 1 MW that was
sold directly to distribution.
Consumption Growth Exceeding
Expectations
In 2002 consumers assumed 11,573
GWh from the transmission network,
which is a 760 GWh increase compared
to the previous year. But on the other
hand the production of domestic power
plants had increased by 1 percent compared
to the previous year, which meant
that domestic energy sources contributed
some 13,032 GWh of electricity
into the network. To provide uninterrupted
operating of the national power system
we had to import 1,571 GWh to
Slovenia, while export amounted to
2,709 GWh.
SLOVENIAN ELECTRICITY MARKET 2002
GWh
Production
13,032
Consumption
11,573
Import
1,571
Export
2,709
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