Gen-Energy, co-owner of the NPP Krško, has spent 10 to 11 million euros for the activities related to the preparation of construction of the second block of the NPP Krško, and the head of the technical team, development and investments, Jože Špiler explains that this partly had to do with the analysis of power generation technologies.
A team of six people is currently working on the project of the new power plant, and the question is whether the fate of this project will be similar to that of the TPP Šoštanj 6, for which all deadlines have been missed, in terms of time and finance.
The value of the new block of the NPP Krško has been estimated at 3.5 to 5 billion euros, and the cost of generated electricity would amount to around 50 euros per MWh, it has been said in Gen-Energy. The environmentalists from Greenpeace Slovenia believe that the price of electricity from the new block would be even two times higher than the market price, and, according to them, the entire project could cost from 6 to 7 billion euros. Franko Nemac, director of the Energy Restructuring Agency, also agrees with this, stressing that the world has gone forward, and prices have risen, so a reactor such as the one built in Krško would really cost 6 to 7 billion euros, and even 8 billion euros.
In Finland, a NPP has been built for 10 years, and the price has doubled, he says. Špiler adds thereto that the price drops as the number of projects increases, and he refers to the projects in Russia that are built within five to six years. In the first years of the power plant operation, a part of electricity would be intended for export. However, an expert analysis and a political decision are necessary above all, and the public opinion is split. In 2014, nuclear energy in Slovenia was supported by 47% of respondents, and less than one half support the construction of the second block in Krško.