Slovenian State Holding (SDH) has received the government’s approval for a capital increase of Holding Slovenska elektrarna in the amount of 192 million euros. The coal miner and electricity producer received a 300 million euro liquidity injection just this week. The HSE suffered a large drop in revenue due to the drought and the forced shutdown of the Šoštan coal plant.

The Government of Slovenia has opened the way for the second part of the recapitalization of HSE. SSH is expected to provide the state-owned company with 192 million euros on December 15, after the troubled coal miner and electrician already received 300 million euros this week.

This year, the drought reduced revenues from hydroelectric power plants by 300 million euros

The HSE is financially affected by this year’s severe drought and the interruption of operation of the only Slovenian coal-fired power plant, the Šoštanj Thermal Power Plant – YOU ARE HARD. The facility restarted on Dec. 5 after being shut down in mid-November due to coal supply problems so it can save fuel for the winter, when imports would likely cost much more. TEŠ and Premogovnik Velenje have already been on the verge of bankruptcy last year due to the skyrocketing costs of carbon emissions.

Poor hydrology will reduce annual revenues by 300 million euros, and the impact of the drop in production in TEŠ will amount to 170 million euros. The negative result is only partially compensated by 50 million euros of unexpected income from electricity trading, director Tomaž Štokelj said.

The solution is in the form of recapitalization, but the HSE is expected to return the funds

The production of hydroelectric power plants will be 32% less than planned this year, which is 36% less than in 2021 and the lowest in the last 20 years. The result in TEŠ is 20 percent below the plan, revealed Štokelj.

In addition, the HSE owes €700 million. Despite the state guarantee, it managed to obtain only 185 million euros in bank loans. Apparently, the recapitalization is also a kind of liquidity loan, as Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič said that he expects the HSE to return the funds by the end of 2024 “if there are no new shocks in the market”.

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