Mochovce 4 one step closer to start-up as Slovakia begins fuel loading

Kalná nad Hronom (Slovakia), June 29 (ČTK correspondent) - Slovak power producer Slovenské elektrárne (SE), the country’s largest, has begun loading fuel into the completed fourth unit of the Mochovce nuclear power plant. SE announced this today. The majority of its shares are held by the Czech businessman Daniel Křetínský’s Energetický a průmyslový holding (EPH) group. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico reiterated that the state should, in his view, exercise its option to increase its stake in SE and become the majority shareholder.

Fuel loading follows a decision by the Slovak Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ÚJD) in May granting permission for the unit to be commissioned. No objections were filed against the decision. The fourth unit at the Mochovce plant, with an installed capacity of 471 megawatts (MW), will cover approximately 13 percent of Slovakia’s electricity consumption.

“This is one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe and the largest private investment in Slovakia’s history. Slovakia will become a nuclear power,” SE Chief Executive Branislav Strýček said at a press conference. He added that nuclear power plants would supply as much as 77 percent of Slovakia’s electricity consumption.

Strýček estimated that the new Mochovce unit would be connected to the grid at the end of the summer and could reach full capacity later this year.

ÚJD head Marta Žiaková said that commissioning the fourth unit at the Mochovce plant had gone better than it did for the plant’s third unit in southern Slovakia. The third unit was connected to the grid in 2023. According to the ÚJD, the relevant tests will begin once fuel has been loaded into the reactor.

Fico again said today that the state should exercise its option to acquire 17 percent of SE’s shares. This would mean that the government, which currently owns 34 percent of SE, would control 51 percent of the company’s shares. The prime minister did not provide details. According to him, the state will be able to exercise the option six months after the fourth unit is connected to the grid.

Nuclear power plants already account for the largest share of electricity generation in Slovakia. The first two nuclear units at the Mochovce plant have been in operation since the late 1990s. Construction of the third and fourth units began in 1987. Work was halted in the 1990s due to a lack of funds and resumed in 2008 under Fico’s first government. SE also operates the Jaslovské Bohunice nuclear power plant.

Completion of the third and fourth units at the Mochovce nuclear power plant was significantly delayed compared with the original plan, while costs also rose sharply, reaching 6.7 billion euros (more than 157 billion crowns).

Plzeň-based Škoda JS, a leading European manufacturer and supplier of equipment for the nuclear power industry, also took part in completing the fourth unit at the Mochovce plant.

The launch of the third unit at the Mochovce plant had already helped Slovakia become self-sufficient in electricity generation. The move also significantly improved SE’s financial performance: last year, the company increased its consolidated net profit by 21.8 percent to a record 968 million euros (23.5 billion crowns).

Slovakia’s current government is preparing to build a new state-owned nuclear power plant with a capacity of around 1200 MW. US company Westinghouse is expected to partner with Slovakia on the project.