For this plan to become reality, the connections at the Slovak-Hungarian border region must be expanded. And here, problems emerge.
Two such projects – Gabčíkovo-Gönyü and Rimavská Sobota-Sajóivánka – are already planned in detail. However, the deadlines for their completion are being postponed, as are negotiations concerning them, the Energia.sk website wrote.
In mid-January, the European Commission supported these two projects, approving a subsidy of €1.6 million. The subsidy was requested by the state Slovak Electricity Transmission Network (SEPS) which is responsible for the projects. In total, the EC allocated €217 million for projects in central and eastern Europe. Those on the Slovak-Hungarian border are vital for Slovakia, analysts point out.
“Slovak-Hungarian profile is identified in the long term as one of the bottleneck points – it does not have sufficient transmission capacities,” energy expert of the Euractiv website told the Hospodárse Noviny daily. She added that this is an obstacle for international trade in electric power.
“New transmission lines are undoubtedly connected also with new blocks of Mochovce [nuclear power plant] which are currently being completed by the Slovenské Elektrárne power utility,” Martin Dargaj of the Veneregtike.sk website opined.
After their completion, Slovakia could send power to the south, as there would be surplus on the market.
“Thanks to new Slovak-Hungarian lines, Slovakia will be able to export power produced here to the Balkans where still electricity is lacking,” he adds.
Even Hungarians could consume the surplus energy.
The construction of two new transmission lines will cost more than €40 million, Energia.sk wrote. It raises questions, though, to what extent this investment will pay off.