BRATISLAVA, April 12, (WEBNOVINY) — Prime Minister Robert Fico (SMER-SD) accompanied by the Minister of Economy Tomas Malatinsky are planning in the coming days to inspect the project of two unfinished units of the nuclear power plant in Mochovce. The prime minister said on Thursday he will be interested why the completion of the third and fourth units at Mochovce is behind schedule. „I will want to know why the third unit would not be connected to the grid in 2012, but allegedly only at the end of 2013. I remember the various graphs and tables that representatives of the power utility SE were showing us, saying how fast it would all progress and suddenly we find out there is a one-year delay,“ said Fico.
Minister Malatinsky acknowledges that an investment of such magnitude as the completion of two NPP units at Mochovce can encounter many obstacles. „Some obstacles may arise in the organization of the project itself, some are objective. I think it is a combination of these effects,“ said Malatinsky. The prime minister plans to check the project immediately after he introduces all new Cabinet ministers into office.
The completion of the third and fourth unit of the Mochovce nuclear power plant lags behind plans. Power utility Slovenske Elektrarne (SE), which has been building the two units, will put them online a year later than planned. “Commercial operation of the third unit will start in late 2013 and the fourth unit in the middle of 2014. The postponement of a few months has been caused by several factors, such as construction works, as well as stress tests, which, by the way, came off excellently,” CEO of SE’s majority stockholder, the Italian energy group Enel Fulvio Conti stated at an annual press conference. Slovenske Elektrarne planned to phase in the third unit in late 2012 and the fourth one eight months later.
Originally, SE planned to connect the third unit of NPP Mochovce to the grid at the end of this year and the fourth unit eight months later. Completion of the two units of the power plant was supposed to cost 2.8 billion euros. SE started with the completion of the project in Mochovce on November 3, 2008. The new units will have 880 MW installed capacity. The power utility Slovenske Elektrarne (SE) signed contracts with the main contractors Skoda Jadrove Strojirenstvi (JS), Atomstroyexport, VUJE, Enseco, Inzinierske Stavby Kosice and Enel Ingegneria & Innovazione in early June 2009.
Until January 1, 2008, EUR 347 million was directed to construction works. The sum reflects the value of equipment and buildings that can be used in the completion of the two units. The premises were about 70 percent finished and technical equipment 30 percent installed.
Since 2006, the Italian energy giant Enel SpA controls a 66-percent stake in Slovenske Elektrarne and the government privatization agency, the FNM holds 34 percent. The Italian investor acquired the majority stake in Slovenske Elektrarne in April 2006. Slovenske Elektrarne is the biggest electricity producer in Slovakia and the No. 2 in CEE. SE operates installed capacity of 5,737 MW at its power plants. The power producer runs two nuclear power installations, two thermal power plants and thirty-four hydropower plants.
SITA