The Krsko nuclear power plant (NEK), co-owned by the Slovenian GEN Energija company and Croatia's Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (HEP), has been given permission to operate until the end of 2043, the Jutarnji List daily reported in its Tuesday edition.

This has been decided by the Slovenian Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, which issued an environmental licence extending the plant’s operation for another 20 years, the daily said.

HEP was quoted as saying that this decision “has strategic importance both for Hrvatska Elektroprivreda as the 50% co-owner of NEK and for the entire Croatian energy sector, from economic, energy and environmental aspects, especially in the present energy crisis.”

NEK, located in Slovenia, is an economical low-carbon source of electricity for the Croatian energy system, meeting the strictest international standards of nuclear safety, Jutarnji List said.

NEK, which was put into operation in 1983, annually generates about 5.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is equally divided between Slovenia and Croatia. It covers about 20 per cent of Slovenia’s needs and about 16 per cent of Croatia’s needs for electricity.

HEP said that last year the Croatian portion of production was 2.65 TWh, which is 14.42 per cent of the total amount of electricity available in Croatia. This year NEK is expected to generate slightly over 6 billion kWh of electricity.

In addition to the environmental licence, another condition for the extension of operation was the successful completion of modernisation, which was met with the adoption of the programme to upgrade nuclear safety. The value of this investment is €370 million, which has been equally secured by HEP and GEN Energija, Jutarnji List said.