THE ECONOMY Ministry does not have very good news for electricity producers or distributors in Slovakia, as it prognosticates stagnation in electricity consumption this year as well.
“Based on the development of electricity consumption in the first four months of this year, we expect that in 2014, electricity consumption will stagnate,” the ministry wrote in its analysis published in early October. This year’s development will thus be similar to the previous three years.
This year, 28.7 terawatt hours of electricity should be consumed in Slovakia. This is a slight increase from last year, where it was 28.6 terawatt hours. Next year, the country’s consumption is to rise slightly, in line with the prognosis to the level of 29.2 terawatt hours. Slovakia should consume over 30 terawatt hours in 2017. In 2030, electricity consumption in Slovakia is predicted to climb to 34.5 terawatt hours.
The electricity consumption in 2013 was around 105 GWh or 0.36 percent lower compared with 2012.
Electricity generated in Slovakia in 2013 amounted to 28.59 TWh, up 197 GWh or 0.7 percent. Nuclear power stations made up the biggest portion of the production at 55 percent, followed by hydro-power stations with a 17.7 percent share, conventional thermal power stations with 15.7 percent and other power plants, which include power plants at factories and renewable sources without large hydro-power plants, made up 11.6 percent.
Solar power stations recorded a significant increase in electricity generation, particularly in 2011 and partially in 2012 and 2013. Last year their installed capacity was 537 megawatts and they generated 588 gigawatt hours of electricity.
Last year, Slovakia had a total installed capacity which exceeded 8,000 MG. In an annual comparison it accounted for a slight drop of 440 MW of capacity due to decommissioning of the gas-fired power plant EVO2.
“It can be said that Slovakia was electricity self-sufficient last year, since it was possible to cover the statistical difference between consumption and production also by electricity sources in Slovakia,” the analysis reads. “But the import of electricity was more efficient in market terms than its production by sources in Slovakia.”
