Slovenské elektrárne express sorrow over the loss of life in Ukraine. We condemn Russia's attack on the civilian population of Ukraine, on civilian targets, including nuclear facilities. We express our support and solidarity with our colleagues and partners in the nuclear power plants in Ukraine, who are doing their utmost to carry out their tasks - to produce electricity safely. They are doing a difficult job, and their personal safety must be ensured.
We join the call by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Nuclear Association to stop all violence at all nuclear facilities. It is necessary for plant workers and rescue teams to be able to carry out their duties. Shooting on the premises of a nuclear power plant violates the fundamental principle that the physical integrity of nuclear facilities must be maintained and kept safe at all times. We also join the urgent call from the world's nuclear experts for the creation of safe zones around all nuclear power plants in Ukraine to ensure the safety of all nuclear facilities and their personnel.
In recent days, Slovenské elektrárne have tightened and strengthened the security of their power plant facilities, including cyber security.
Slovenské elektrárne are monitoring the situation very closely, communicating and cooperating with partners at the IAEA, WANO, WNA, ÚJD and other national and international stakeholders.
The majority shareholder of Slovenské elektrárne, Slovak Power Holding, signed a Memorandum with the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic and the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic on the implementation of extraordinary measures to eliminate the impact of the increase in electricity prices on selected groups of consumers.
In the memorandum, Slovak Power Holding undertakes to take such steps so that Slovenské elektrárne could reserve electricity for 2023 and 2024, which would be sold to selected groups of customers at fixed prices. According to the Memorandum, 6.15 terawatt hours should be set aside for selected groups of customers at a price of EUR 61.20. The total value of the support will amount to approximately EUR 850 million.
At the same time, the Government hereby withdraws the bill from the so-called excessive profit in trading with electricity generated by nuclear facilities, the adoption of which would threaten the bankruptcy of Slovak Power Plants. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy have committed not to take any initiative between 2022 and 2025 to introduce, increase or tighten any new tax, levy, fee, specific payment or regulation that could financially jeopardise Slovenské elektrárne.
"The shareholders of Slovenské elektrárne have offered a mechanism of assistance to vulnerable groups of the population for the years 2023 - 2024, so that the viability of the company, its ability to meet its obligations to banks and creditors, and at the same time so that we can continue work on the commissioning of Unit 3 of the Mochovce nuclear power plant and the completion of Unit 4 are not threatened. It is these new sources that will provide energy for Slovakia for a long period into the future at a time when Europe is facing and will face a shortage of stable electricity supplies," says Branislav Strýček, CEO of Slovenské elektrárne.
"The agreement managed to avert the imminent economic collapse of the Slovenské elektrárne. We believe that we will be able to defend this support model before the financing banks and find their understanding," says Jan Špringl, a shareholder representative and member of the Board of Directors of Energetický a průmyslový holding.
"We appreciate that the Slovak government reflected the arguments of the shareholders and the management of the company and I am glad that we were able to find a substantive solution for both sides," added Michele Bologna, representative of the shareholder - Enel Group.
More than 64.3 % of all electricity generated in Slovakia comes from the Slovenské elektrárne. The electricity they supply to the grid covers about 60 % of the country's consumption. In particular, thanks to nuclear power plants, Slovakia's largest producer supplies up to 94 % of electricity without emitting carbon dioxide, which is considered to be one of the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. In addition to nuclear power plants, the company also operates 31 hydroelectric, two thermal and two photovoltaic power plants. Their total capacity at the end of 2021 was 4,143.8 megawatts.
The company has two shareholders. The majority shareholder is Slovak Power Holding B.V. (SPH), holding a 66.0000000523 % stake in the share capital. In SPH, EP Slovakia B.V. (a subsidiary of the EPH group) holds 50 % of the share capital and the remaining 50 % belongs to Enel Produzione S.p.A (a subsidiary of the Enel group). The minority shareholder of Slovenske elektrární with a 33,9999999477 % share in the share capital is the Slovak Republic, on behalf of which the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic acts.
The essential activities of the outage, which should last less than four weeks, include works on technical water system, emergency reactor core cooling systems, electrical switchgear stations and non-destructive inspections of the reactor pressure vessel.
Repairs of control rod welds and replacement of control rod absorbers are scheduled, as well as inspections and repairs of heterogeneous welded joints of steam generators. The plant will also undergo repairs at one of six reactor coolant pumps and other works. The schedule also includes a containment tightness test.
In parallel, works on investment projects will be underway. The most important of these are the unit’s efficiency increase by 7 per cent, installation of an electric boiler and a long-term seismic resistance enhancement project, which will include some measures to increase the seismic resistance of switchboards and transformers, as well as severe accident management projects.
Once the overhaul works are over, Mochovce 2 will operate at half power – with only one turbine generator, until another turbine is replaced in November.
In Slovakia, the September overhaul of Mochovce 2 is the last planned nuclear overhaul this year. However, at the same time it is this year’s first overhaul with unchanged, full scale scope of works, with presence of foreign contractors. They must comply to strict conditions set by the Chief Hygienist of the Slovak Republic and management of Slovenske elektrarne within the prevention measures in place against the spread of the new coronavirus.
Slovenské elektrárne performed all required inspections of systems and components during the extended revision with the aim of assessing their conditions following the hot hydraulic testing and before the fuel loading into the reactor.
The extended revision included a thorough inspection of the reactor as well as other primary circuit components, particularly reactor internal structures, reactor coolant pumps, pipelines, pressurizer, etc. dismantling, inspection works, and re-assembling of the reactor and other primary circuit components, i.e. reactor internal structures.
Slovenske Elektrarne performed visual, tightness, pressure, ultrasonic and other tests to check integrity and quality of the primary circuit components and for detection of impurities or foreign objects.
The company continuously rectifies some of the findings resulting from testing of systems performed so far, prepares additional more detailed analyses, and will repeat some tests done during the hot hydraulic testing.
The extended revision will be completed by reactor readiness for fuel loading following the repeated Mochovce NPP Unit 3 heating, assessment of additional required tests and repeated primary circuit pressure test, as conditions for authorisation to load fuel into the reactor.
Slovenske Elektrarne does not expect any significant impact of the activities on the schedule and budget, technical readiness for fuel loading shall be achieved in autumn 2019.
Mochovce NPP Unit 3 primary circuit extended revision is the last stage before the initial fuel loading into the reactor.
Slovenské elektrárne strongly objects to the way in which the anti-nuclear organisation Global2000 is scaremongering through reports about the Mochovce nuclear power plant. Referring to an anonymous source, the anti-nuclear group claims that the massive, meter and half thick reinforced concrete containment wall of the new reactor at Mochovce plant is not safe enough due to the drilling for anchoring technological equipment at the nuclear site.
The claim is misleading, false, and shows the absolute ignorance on the side of Global2000 with regard to complex projects to increase the seismic resilience of both existing and under-construction sites, and is intended to spread fear and panic among the inhabitants of Austria and Slovakia as well.
During the construction of Mochovce units 3 and 4, Slovenské elektrárne implemented a comprehensive seismic reinforcement project, with more than 60 000 steel anchoring plates installed that were fully in compliance with the engineering calculations and the approved project design. The outcome was an increase in the resistance of both units to potential earthquakes at the Mochovce site, whereby the company attained a situation exceeding international standards applied in this field.
Over the recent weeks, Slovenské elektrárne has thoroughly tested the tightness of the containment of the nuclear power plant, with excellent results. The containment parameters showed that under the pressure of 150 kPa the achieved results were twice as good as the limits set by the Slovak Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA). We therefore strictly reject any statements of insufficient tightness or weakness of the containment.
The aim of the Austrian anti-nuclear organisation Global2000 is to stop the commissioning of units 3 and 4 of the Mochovce installation by any means, including the increased media pressure on the Austrian government. To this end they use the means bordering on false scaremongering rumours. We consider their requests and proposals to be deliberately false and we refuse them in their entirety.
Below we attach the full wording of Slovenské elektrárne’s response to the request for a meeting addressed to us by Global2000 in February this year:
Dear Ms. Lorenz,
respectfully, we decline your request. Your organization’s key mission is to stop all nuclear activities by any and all means all around the world. Our goal is to continue production from nuclear. Nuclear has been one of the safest ways of producing electricity in the world and the single largest source of low carbon electricity in Europe, saving million tons of CO2 emissions. Many top scientists, environmentalists and climate experts, including James Hansen, James Lovelock, Ken Caldeira, Carlo Rubbia, Ted Nordhaus and many other notable authorities throughout the world agree that nuclear must be a part of the fight against climate change. Our operating power plants have had excellent track records in all aspects of their operation. We continue to communicate the progress on the Mochovce site with our key stakeholders, public officials and many others. As in the past, we will continue to provide answers to all relevant questions within the process managed by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority. But we find our views irreconcilable and consider your effort as nothing but a pretext to further spread nuclear phobia.
Allow me to use this opportunity to quote from the Open Letter to Environmentalist on Nuclear Energy: “Although renewable energy sources like wind and solar will likely make increasing contributions to future energy production, these technology options face real-world problems of scalability, cost, material and land use, meaning that it is too risky to rely on them as the only alternatives to fossil fuels. Nuclear power—being by far the most compact and energy-dense of sources—could also make a major, and perhaps leading, contribution. As scientists, we declare that an evidence-based approach to future energy production is an essential component of securing biodiversity’s future and cannot be ignored. It is time that conservationists make their voices heard in this policy arena.”
Others experts have taken similar approach. Bill Gates, for example, supported nuclear by saying just last December “Solar and wind are intermittent sources of energy, and we are unlikely to have super-cheap batteries anytime soon that would allow us to store sufficient energy for when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. Nuclear is ideal for dealing with climate change, because it is the only carbon-free, scalable energy source that’s available 24 hours a day.”
It is an irrefutable fact that nuclear shut-dows, which is your ultimate goal in all countries, have and will lead to replacement by or delayed phase-out by fossil fuels everywhere, with Germany being a notable example of a country unable to meet its climate goals and even lower its emissions from electricity generation because of that. This is confirmed by no other than the Union of Concern Scientists, one of the worlds’ foremost watchdogs, which for this very reason even called for “temporary financial support to avoid the early closure of nuclear plants” and stated that “limiting the worst effects of climate change may also require other low- or no-carbon energy solutions, including nuclear power”.
I will be more than happy to meet you when I see that you can accept views differing from your own and recognize nuclear as one of the legitimate ways to produce low-carbon electricity. Allow me conclude my answer with a statement of Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, who said at the Central European Energy Conference in Bratislava last year the following: “We all have our favorite fuels, some wind, some solar, some nuclear. But we have to decide, what is our aim. Is our aim to increase our ego or reduce CO2 emissions? We have to make a choice."
On 26 June 2018, the General Assembly of Slovenské elektrárne, a.s. approved the company's annual report, financial statements, a proposal for the distribution of profits, the adjustment of the Strategic Plan for 2018 – 2022, as well as a proposal to change the price decisions of the Regulatory Office for Network Industries on the price of electricity produced from domestic coal .
The new composition of the company's bodies has also been approved. The new Chairman of the Board of Directors, with effect from 27 June, is Mr. Branislav Strýček, replacing Mr. Bohumil Kratochvíl.
The General Assembly of the Company elected Mr. Kratochvíl as a member of the Supervisory Board. The new Chairman of the Supervisory Board became Mr. Richard Paška, and its new Vice-President is Mr. Georgios Karavas.
At the same time, the company's board of directors appointed Branislav Strýček as CEO of Slovenské elektrárne, a.s., with effect from 1 July 2018.
Branislav Strýček is the Chairman of the Board of Directors (since 27 June 2018) and General Director (since 1 July 2018) of Slovenské elektrárne (SE). He joined SE in 2005 as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer responsible for the reorganization of the finance department. In 2007, he took over the position of the Chief Financial Officer and member of the Board (since 2009), having responsibility for strategic decisions on investments, acquisitions, divestments and multi-million bank deals, and significantly contributing to a successful comprehensive restructuring of the company after its privatization in 2006.
In 2011, Mr. Strýček became the Chief Financial Officer of the International Division of Enel Group, based in Rome, Italy, leading CFOs in multiple countries in Europe and in Russia, establishing strategic and financial targets and spearheading continuous improvement programs. Upon his return to Slovakia he assumed the position of the Director of Market, Regulatory and Portfolio Management and the Vice-Chair of the Board (2012 – 2016) of SE, managing the sales strategy, business development and regulatory affairs; and leading wholesale and retail business in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary.
Mr. Strýček is a member of the Board of Directors of Elini, a mutual insurance association, as well as the Board Directors of EURELECTRIC, an association representing European electricity industry. Prior to joining SE he gained considerable expertise in in various management positions in Emerson Network Power and Andersen in Slovakia, USA and Italy.
Mr. Strýček received his Civil Engineering degree from the Slovak Technical University in 1997. He became a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in the UK in 2004 and obtained his MBA from the London Business School, one of the world's foremost business schools, in 2009. He is the first Slovak Chairman of the Board of Director and General Director of SE since 2006. He is an avid ski mountaineer and climber, marathon runner and Ironman finisher.
Slovenské elektrárne, a.s. reported EBIDTA in the amount of 376 milion euros, with y/o/y decrease caused by the change of estimates of reserves for nuclear decommissioning and storage costs, as well as the fair value adjustment of the company’s assets in 2015. Net profit in 2016 increased to 116.8 million euros, primarily due to continuing optimization, realized savings and absence of one-off extraordinary measures. Total investments in 2016 reached 541 million euros, most of which was used for the completion of unit 3 and 4 of the nuclear power plant in Mochovce. Total indebtedness of the company increased by 494 million euros.
The General Meeting also decided that the profit will not be distributed to shareholders, but as in the past years, will be invested in the Mochovce project.
“Wholesale electricity prices in 2016 reached the lowest levels of the past decade, despite this we were able to stabilize the company and reach solid results. However, the whole energy market is undergoing a substantial transformation and there is a lot of work ahead of us in the coming years to increase efficiency and performance of the whole company. The completion of the two units in Mochovce remains key for us.”
- Bohumil Kratochvíl,
Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Slovenské elektrárne
In 2016 Slovenské elektrárne produced 18,981 GWh of electricity, of which 14 774 GWh in nuclear power plants, 2,146 GWh in hydro and 2,059 in thermal. Photovoltaic power plants produced 1.96 GWh of electricity. Thanks to nuclear and hydro production, Slovenské elektrárne generated 90 % of electricity without CO2 emissions.
The General Meeting appointed Mr. Georgios Karavas, nominee of Slovak Power Holding, B.V., for the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Mr. Richard Paško, nominee of the Slovak Republic, for the Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board.
On Thursday, November 10, Slovenské elektrárne gave away the 2016 Aurel Stodola Award to students competing for 8th year of the contest. During the Science and Technology Week the company awarded eight university students for their papers focused on energy and power generation.
Heads of departments from all technical universities across Slovakia submitted the Aurel Stodola Award candidates' papers to a Committee of experts from the energy sector. The awarded students receive their awards in November, during the Science and Technology Week:
Award for scientific activity papers was not granted in 2016.
Slovenské elektrárne promotes education, science and research in cooperation with the Slovak Technical University following the Memorandum on Strategic and Long-term Cooperation signed between the Company and the University in September 2007.
At today´s meeting held in Bratislava the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Shareholders of Slovenské elektrárne a. s. approved new composition of the corporate bodies and amendment to the Articles of Association which reflects modification of the Shareholders Agreement. With effect from 29 July 2016 Bohumil Kratochvíl became new Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Following the amendment to the Shareholders Agreement dated of 26 February 2016 and with respect to the change in the majority shareholder which occurred after the transfer of 66% of shares of Slovenské elektrárne from Enel Produzione S.p.A. to Slovak Power Holding B.V. which is jointly owned by Enel Produzione S.p.A. and EP Slovakia B.V., the subsidiary company of Energetický a průmyslový holding, a. s., the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders has approved the amendment to the Articles of Association today.
The Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders also approved new composition of the Board of Directors and Supervisory Board.
Bohumil Kratochvíl became Chairman of the Board of Directors in Slovenské elektrárne. He replaced Nicola Cotugno who was appointed to the office of the Senior Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors. The Board of Director also appointed Bohumil Kratochvíl to the office of the General Director. Tatiana Kamenská is a new member of the Board of Directors.
The following nominees of Slovak Power Holding B.V. were elected the new members of the Supervisory Board: Jan Špringl, Jiří Feist, Pavel Janík, Jan Stříteský, Michele Bologna and Rodolfo Avogadro di Vigliano.
Based on yearly rotation of the chairmanship in Supervisory Board, Richard Paško, the nominee of the minority shareholder - the Slovak Republic - remains the Chairman of the Supervisory Board; Roberto Deambrogio, the majority shareholder´s nominee remains the Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board.
Slovenské elektrárne, a. s. (SE) is a leader in electricity generation and heat production in combined operation on the Slovak market, it is also a provider of effective energy solutions. Slovak Power Holding B.V. is a majority shareholder owning 66% stake in SE; it is owned by an Italian company Enel Produzione S.p.A. and EP Slovakia B.V. a subsidiary company of Energetický a průmyslový holding, a. s. The Slovak Republic (SR), is a minority shareholder owning 34% stake and it is the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic acting on behalf of it.
The Annual General Meeting of Slovenské elektrárne, held today in Bratislava, approved the financial results for 2015 and elected new members of the company’s Board of Directors and Supervisory Board.
For 2015, Slovenské elektrárne reported EBITDA of 869 million euros, a 63% year-on-year increase mainly due to the change in estimates of the provisions for nuclear decommissioning and storage costs, as well as continuing efforts in cost optimisation and efficiency, which partly offset the decline in electricity sales prices. Net income for 2015 reached 24 million euros, down from 170 million euros in 2014, mainly attributable to the fair value adjustment of the company’s assets and deteriorating market conditions. Investments reached 722 million euros, primarily in the completion of units 3 and 4 of the Mochovce nuclear power plant.
In 2015 the company produced 19,707 GWh of electricity, of which 19,259 GWh came from its own resources and 448 GWh from the Gabčíkovo, Čunovo and Mošoň hydropower plants, operated contractually until March 9th, 2015. Slovenské elektrárne produced 838 GWh in the past year. Excellent results in the operational reliability of Slovak nuclear power plants were again confirmed in 2015 by the unit capability factor (UFC), which was 90.60% for the Bohunice V2 nuclear power plant and 93% for the Mochovce nuclear power plant.1
“Thanks to its continuous efforts in increasing efficiency and optimising costs, the company was also able to maintain strong financial operating results and a stable flow of investments in 2015 despite deteriorating market conditions,” said Nicola Cotugno, the Company’s General Manager. “It’s on this groundwork that we base our confidence for successful implementation of the investment plan for the coming period, which is dominated by the completion of the third and fourth units of the Mochovce nuclear power plant.We also paid increasing attention to the utilisation of potential for growth in the neighbouring V4 markets, as well as in providing energy services for end-users.”
The Annual General Meeting also elected a new member of the company’s Board of Directors and new members of the Supervisory Board. Jozef Zlatňanský, the nominee of Enel Produzione S.p.A, has again been appointed a member of the Board of Directors. New members of the Supervisory Board include Richard Paško, the shareholder the Slovak Republic’s nominee, and William Hartert, the shareholder Enel Produzione’s S.p.A‘s nominee. The nominee of the Slovak Republic Richard Paško takes over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Roberto Deambrogio, the nominee of Enel Produzione S.p.A, takes over as Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board.
Slovenské elektrárne had two shareholders as at 31 December 2015. The majority shareholder was the Italian company Enel Produzione S.p.A., owning 66% of the shares. The minority shareholder was the Slovak Republic, represented by the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic, owning 34% of the shares. Slovenské elektrárne operates 31 hydropower, two nuclear, two thermal and two solar power plants, with a total installed capacity of over 4,000 MW.
Enel is a multinational power company and a leading integrated player in the world’s power and gas markets. Enel Group operates in over 30 countries across 4 continents, producing energy through a net installed capacity of more than 89 GW and distributes electricity and gas through a network of approximately 1.9 million kilometers. With over 61 million business and household customers worldwide, Enel has the largest customer base among European competitors. Enel is the largest integrated utility in Europe in terms of market capitalisation and figures among Europe’s leading power companies in terms of installed capacity and reported EBITDA.
Slovak Republic – Under applicable legislation, the state as a company shareholder is represented by the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic. The SR has two representatives on the Company’s board of directors and supervisory board. The positions of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board are alternately occupied each year by their nominated representatives.
1 Best in class UFC standards provided by international organisation WANO for the same type of reactors as those operated by SE stand at 90.71%.
