interviews
Photo: osebni arhivIgor Sirc, SNSA: Energy Policy Decisions Should Be Carefully Considered
March 23, 2020 | Alenka L. Klopčič, Tanja SrnovršnikElectricity | Energy policy | New technologies
In May 2019, on the International Workers’ Day, Igor Sirc began his five-year term in office as the Director of the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA), after being appointed by the Slovenian government. As Sirc previously served as the head of the Emergency Preparedness Department at the SNSA, this interview was a chance to ask him about the preparedness of the Slovenian nuclear...
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Photo: arhiv KIRobert Dominko, KI: Storage Developing Fast, but Not Fast Enough to Meet Needs
March 16, 2020 | Valerija HozjanElectricity | RES and EE | New technologies
It is difficult to say which storage technologies will dominate in the future – this will depend on the price, the accessibility of materials, the lifetime, and the environmental impact, with safety also playing an important role, said Robert Dominko of the Department of Materials Chemistry at the Slovenian Chemistry Institute – which is taking part in the development of Na-ion cells as part...
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Photo: NEKStane Rožman, Krško NPP: Depreciated Nuclear Plants Are A Profitable, Competitive Energy Source
March 9, 2020 | Alenka Lena KlopčičElectricity | Energy policy | Economy
2019 was an outstanding year for the Krško nuclear power plant (NPP) in terms of both its operational and business results, said Stane Rožman, the long-standing Chairman of the Management Board of the Krško NPP, one of the top-rated nuclear plants operational in Europe. With regard to operational results, Rožman highlighted the successful implementation of the 2019 overhaul; although very...
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Photo: AVEREP. Vangeel, AVERE: Mass Electrification of Transport Is the Best Way to Reduce Emissions
March 2, 2020 | Tanja Srnovršnik, Alenka L. KlopčičElectricity | Transport | Energy policy | CO2 emissions | Economy
“In January 2020 France witnessed a meteoritic jump in electric vehicle (EV) registrations, marking the first time over 10,000 (10,952, +258% y/y) fully electric passenger cars were registered in a single month. With such a drastic uptake in EVs, it is clear that 2020 will be a major transformation year for the sector. Moreover, the evidence rings true that carmakers had been delaying the sales...
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Photo: personal archiveAleš Koželjnik, Petrol: Investing in Projects to Boost Energy Autonomy is Crucial
February 24, 2020 | Alenka Lena KlopčičOil and oil derivates | RES and EE | Energy policy | New technologies
The flexible and smart management of energy and infrastructure systems in cities brings with it economic and sustainable impacts, Slovenia’s Petrol reveals. Through different projects, the country’s largest energy company is working on identifying and developing the tools that will enable and simplify the use of flexibility in the power system, thereby increasing supply stability and security....
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Photo: Siemens EnergyAleš Prešern, Siemens Energy: I Don’t See the Energy Transition Ending Soon
February 17, 2020 | Alenka Lena KlopčičElectricity | RES and EE | New technologies | Economy
The Siemens Corporation will have legally separated the majority of its energy business by 1 April 2020, after having done the same with its telecommunications, transport, and healthcare businesses, thus creating the independent company Siemens Energy. “This will allow us to be your partner in tackling the increasingly challenging energy transition, providing you with fully integrated...
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Photo: Alenka Lena KlopčičProf. Mihael Sekavčnik: The Growing Penetration of Renewables Has a Negative Impact on System Stability
February 10, 2020 | Alenka Lena KlopčičElectricity | RES and EE | New technologies | Economy
The Ljubljana Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, more specifically its Department of Power Engineering with a staff of just over 30, headed by Prof. Mihael Sekavčnik, works on very interesting projects. Lately, this has included life cycle analysis (LCA) in energy, and the associated energy return on investment (EROI). According to the team’s findings, as a result of the depletion of the most...
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Photo: Melani TopalovičMarko Seršen, Energen: CHP Technology is Crucial for Meeting Climate Targets
February 3, 2020 | Valerija HozjanElectricity | RES and EE | New technologies | Heating
Since its establishment in 2005, Slovenia’s Energen has installed over 120 high-efficiency combined heat and power (CHP) units with a total power of 4.7 MWe, and is currently carrying out 50 ESCO (energy contracting) projects in Slovenia. In its 15 years of operation, the company has managed to capture a sizable share the Slovenian market, so it is now gradually expanding abroad, the General...
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Photo: Univerza v LjubljaniIgor Papič, University of Ljubljana: Engineering is Currently a Hot Profession
January 27, 2020 | Alenka Lena KlopčičNew technologies | Economy
The University of Ljubljana has been recording a drop in enrolments – from nearly 43,000 in the academic year 2014/15 to 37,615 in the current academic year – however, there has also been a decrease in the dropout rate, which is one of the university’s main aims. The new entrants are mostly interested in studying healthcare, medicine or pharmacy, while the interest in technical studies is...
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Photo: Boštjan ColaričTomaž Žagar: We Can Imagine Two New NPPs Being Built in Slovenia's Krško
January 20, 2020 | Valerija HozjanElectricity | New technologies
The siting of a new facility, even at an existing energy location, is a long-term, political, environmental, and social project, explained Tomaž Žagar, President of the Nuclear Society of Slovenia and Head of Planning and Control at the Slovenian energy company GEN energija, when talking to Energetika.NET. Žagar believes that in a power system as small and regionally interconnected as...
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