Novaky Power Station Expansion

Novaky Power Station Expansion was proposed in 2001 by the Swiss company, Advance Power. It proposed to spend 300 million euros to build a 280 megawatt lignite-fired plant in Novaky. The state-owned power utility SE's existing Nováky plant has an installed capacity of 522 megawatts, of which 110 megawatts capacity was scheduled to be decommissioned in late 2005. Advance Power's proposal was seen as a lifeline for the three mines operated by Hornonitrianske bane Prievidza, which supply the existing Nováky plant.

A report for the European Union reported that the output of the station would be 270 megawatts. The report also stated that:


 * "the construction should be launched in 2004 and the plant should be put into operation by the end of 2007. The power plant should generate 2,000 GWh of electricity while consuming 1.7m tons of brown coal from Novaky coalfields annually. The Ministry of Economy issued a license for the project in 2000. The total budget should reach USD 300m, of which Advanced Power should finance 70%. To achieve the aim, a new company Slovenska uholna elektraren Novaky j.s.c. has been established with Advanced Power having share of 66% and Hornonitrianske bane Prievidza 34%. Advanced Power has already made preliminary contract with the electricity distributor SSE as well as with Hornotrianske bane. The idea of project was initiated by Hornonitrianske bane, which currently supplies brown coal to the thermal power station Novaky owned by SE. The conclusion of this contract between SE and Hornonitrianske Bane was forced by the Slovak government in order to preserve the “social coal mining” and thus employment in the region. In coming years, the Novaky power station plans to shut down two obsolete blocks with an installed capacity of 110 MWe. This would decrease supplies of coal from Hornonitrianske Bane significantly, taking a heavy toll on the employment in the region."

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