Energy

Slovenia is still creating over 20% of all energy with coal, significantly impacting our carbon intensity of 352g/co2eq/kwh (62% low-carbon, 33% renewables) and putting us far behind Scandinavian countries with under 30g/co2eq/kwh. We need to decarbonize while our industries and daily lives are becoming electrified. The plan to build a second nuclear power plant is essential, but we also need to significantly step up our share of renewable energies, while upgrading our network grid to be more efficient, multidirectional, more reliable and resilient to external shocks while ensuring cheap and accessible energy for households and our industry.

Volt Slovenija proposes:

Renewables

• Continue to provide financial incentives such as net-metering to individuals and businesses that install solar panels on their roofs or land.

• Invest in large-scale solar projects and create regulatory streamlining to encourage the development of solar farms and increase our capacities with growing electricity demand.

• Support installations on flat rooftops (>1000m²) and make their installation mandatory after 2030.

• Require all new parking lots that exceed 1500 sq meters in size to be at least half-covered by solar panels for shading and electricity generation, like already in force in France since 2023.

• Experiment using natural phenomena like the Bora winds for electricity generation with more robust vertical axis turbines or other designs.

Nuclear Energy

• Construct a second nuclear power reactor (JEK2) as a cross-border public-private partnership. Having multiple stakeholders reduces the financial burden of Slovenia shouldering such a project alone while increasing the oversight against corruption and exceeding costs. Slovenia needs a second nuclear power plant, but we must learn from the mistakes that were made in similar large-scale projects in the past. 

Fossil fuel transition

• Develop a plan for phasing out coal energy creation and mining  and provide early retirement and retraining schemes. We should invest into a solution for affected workers instead of subsidising unprofitable energy creation and air pollution.

Smart Grid and Storage

• Adapt our electricity grid to be able to transition from large-scale and stable electricity providers to a mix of small and large providers following the strategies adopted in countries like Denmark. Support installation of high-voltage power lines and energy storage systems as well as digital substations and microgrids to improve efficiency and reliability of the electricity transmission network.

• Introduce measures that support smart electricity “on the last meters” to change consumer habits and incentivise curbing overall electricity consumption. 

• Foster development of Vehicle Grid Integration (VGI) to integrate car batteries into the electrical grid as excess storage capacity and allow car owners to earn extra income by charging excess electricity and feeding it into the grid when needed.

• Use our geographical topography for energy storage and support the development of pumped hydro storages to store energy by pumping water uphill during times of low demand and excess electricity generation.

(version 2025-02)