Three municipalities in the Šalek valley in Slovenia signed a cooperation agreement with the utility firm in Velenje and with TEŠ 0 Savinjsko-šaleška regija – SAŠA) and Zasavje are Slovenia’s coal regions Along with other local economies dependent on the coal industry in the European Union they are eligible to receive public funds for their energy transition The municipalities of Velenje, Šoštanj, and Šmartno ob Paki plan to tap on the EU’s Just Transition Fund together with TEŠ – part of state-owned power producer Holding Slovenske Elektrarne (HSE) – and Komunalno Podjetje Velenje (KPV) for the decarbonization of the district heating system in the Šalek valley KPV said they would produce project documentation for the gradual transition to renewable energy sources The deal is also the first step in eliminating CO2 emissions from the coal region Šaleška valley must phase out coal within ten years experts from both sides will prepare a joint concept It includes the installation of heat pumps paired with solar power plants at the location of the TEŠ coal plant and a cogeneration facility that would use different fuels together with a heat pump at the local wastewater treatment plant The district heating network is planned to be modernized Heat pumps and photovoltaic facilities are to be installed at the TEŠ site The Šalek valley must switch to clean energy within ten years so it is necessary to define investments and measures as soon as possible to restructure the district heating system KPV said and added that the TEŠ site is excellent KPV and the municipalities plan to jointly apply for the money from the Just Transition Fund this year The first phase of the transformation of the district heating system is already underway It is envisaged to reduce CO2 emissions and coal consumption by 25,269 and 21,150 tons per year and result in annual heat savings of 76,559 MWh or about 25% KPV plans to start renewing the distribution network and the installation of the first renewable electricity plant The district heating system in the Šalek valley supplies more than 35,000 consumers The agreement was signed by the general manager of TEŠ Branko Debeljak KPV’s manager Gašper Škarja and the municipality chiefs: Peter Dermol (Velenje) Boris Goličnik (Šoštanj) and Janko Kopušar (Šmartno ob Paki) Be the first one to comment on this article 30 April 2025 - Energy Secretary Chris Wright has delivered a keynote speech at the inaugural session of the Three Seas Business Forum in Warsaw , 09 April 2025 - Renewables and nuclear energy met 79,1% of 2024 global power demand growth The fossil fuels share was bigger than the part attributed to the annual rise in temperatures 08 April 2025 - The first large independent analysis in Croatia of methane emissions from the oil and gas infrastructure was carried out 08 April 2025 - The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition has presented the Social Plan for Climate Policy and the EU ETS 2 © CENTER FOR PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2008-2020 website developed by ogitive the Government completed the discussion on the 343 buildings scheduled for potential removal. The Government adopted a Decision identifying the buildings situated in the territory of the municipalities of Braslovče Luče and Gorenja vas – Poljane whose removal is absolutely necessary in the public interest The decision determined 128 buildings scheduled for urgent removal and identified the public benefits of the removal of the aforementioned buildings and replacing them with one of the legal options The decisions are based on expert opinions prepared by the State Technical Office within the Government of the Republic of Slovenia Service for Reconstruction after Floods and Landslides and previously approved by the Council of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Reconstruction giving the public an opportunity to submit comments and suggestions The Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Post-Flood and Landslide Reconstruction responded in writing to all the comments and suggestions received The list of registered areas and facilities that were subject to expert assessment was published on 8 January 2024 The list included a total of 343 buildings In accordance with this and previous decisions as well as professional proposals it is urgently necessary in the public interest to remove 258 buildings 85 buildings have been removed from the list on the basis of an expert assessment. The next step in the procedure is the signing of a contract determining the replacement of the property earmarked for removal the state may provide the owner of a property containing a building to be removed with the right of ownership of an equivalent property unless the owner of a property containing a building to be removed requests compensation If the owner of a property containing a building to be removed proposes a replacement property the state purchases and transfers the property to that owner provided that an appraisal of the two properties establishes their equivalence If the value of the appraised replacement property is lower than the value of the appraised property containing a building to be removed and the owner of the property containing a building to be removed agrees to such compensation the state pays to that owner the difference in value between the two properties in cash If the value of the appraised replacement property is higher than the value of the appraised property containing a building to be removed the state shall purchase the replacement property if the owner of the property containing a building to be removed pays the difference in value between the two properties The Government took note of the Information on the launch of the Economic and Social Council Negotiating Group (ESC NG) for the preparation of changes to the pension and disability insurance system and the time schedule for its work the social partners and the Government launched the work of the ESC NG for the preparation of changes in the field of pensions and disability insurance the members of the Negotiating Group agreed on the working methods of the Negotiating Group The Negotiating Group meetings will be held in accordance with the time schedule by individual topics The Government has included the purchase of property units for the purpose of expanding the hospital activities of the Maribor University Medical Centre in the Development Programme Plan 2024-2027. The investment aims to provide space capacity for the future expansion of the Maribor University Medical Centre (UKC Maribor) by purchasing a property at Masarykova ulica 24-26 which is in close proximity to UKC Maribor The purchase of the property by the Republic of Slovenia will regulate the ownership status of the properties located within the hospital area This will allow future investments to be made for the purpose of the expansion and upgrading of  UKC Maribor This will ensure adequate conditions for providing healthcare services better care of the sick and higher quality specialist medical treatment in line with modern standards The estimated value of the investment is EUR 2,394,121.13 To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Did you find the information you were looking for Do you want to receive a response from the responsible institution Clicking on the link will open your default e-mail program and automatically draft a message that you can send to the institution responsible for the content of this website ask for a reply The Call for proposals for promoting investments for the economic restructuring of the Zasavska and Savinjsko-Šaleška coal regions provides EU funding under the Just Transition Fund 2024-2027 It will support investments in tangible and intangible assets that will contribute to job creation particularly in the municipalities of Hrastnik Šmartno ob Paki and Šoštanj and in the Urban Municipality of Velenje It will also be possible to implement projects in the wider area of these regions The call for proposals targets enterprises aiming to support job creation and promote diverse sustainable investments that will help mitigate the negative socio-economic effects of coal phase-out The Just Transition Fund makes a total of EUR 68.7 million available for the call for proposals that will be published by the SPIRIT Slovenia Business Development Agency in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia on 24 May 2024 The Call for proposals for co-financing the projects of economic and business infrastructure development in the Savinjsko-Šaleška coal region provides EU funding under the Just Transition Fund 2023-2027 It will support the revitalisation of existing business zones and the expansion and construction of new ones in the areas experiencing degradation as a result of coal mining While business and economic infrastructure development is one of the preconditions for the development and growth of micro enterprises small and medium-sized enterprises and large enterprises these activities are expected to spur the development of entrepreneurship and create new jobs while supporting the restructuring of the coal region and paving the way for the transition towards a low-carbon circular economy The call for proposals will include investments supporting the operation of business zones including investments in road infrastructure public utility infrastructure and telecommunications infrastructure Investments in water infrastructure will be allowed if they include flood control measures The call will make a total of EUR 10,635,294.12 available of which EUR 9,040,000 comes from the just Transition Fund The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development will publish the call for proposals in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia on 24 May 2024 ask for a reply The press conference featured Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Dr Aleksander Jevšek State Secretary at the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development Andreja Katič Mayor of Velenje Urban Municipality Peter Dermol and Mayor of Trbovlje Municipality Zoran Poznič Minister Jevšek stressed that the two territorial just transition plans focus on the centres for the just transition The centres will promote the involvement of stakeholders and cooperation of regional level actors in all stages of the implementation of the territorial just transition plans in both regions transitioning away from coal The smartly designed governance mechanism has been recognised as an example of good practice by the European Commission ''Around 250 million euros have been made available under the JTF for both regions The Savinjsko-Šaleška region will get nearly 174 million euros and almost 75 million euros have been earmarked for the Zasavje region This means that the projects will have to be completed by mid-2026 can be used by the end of 2029; the same applies to other cohesion funds,'' explained Minister Jevšek State Secretary Andreja Katič shared the details of the call for proposals that was published on 24 November The call seeks to co-finance the construction of economic and business infrastructure (business incubators) in the Savinjsko-Šaleška and Zasavje coal regions ''The call for proposals supports Slovenia's goal to shift to a low-carbon circular economy which complies with Slovenia's sustainable smart specialisation strategy and other development strategies The call supports the construction and furnishing of new business incubators in both coal regions to facilitate growth of new businesses and support new job opportunities especially for those who lost or will lose job because of coal phase-out It follows the first call for proposals under the JTF that was published in July this year,’’ said State Secretary Katič The call for proposals may co-finance up to 100% of the eligible costs of the projects The non-deductible part of VAT paid will also be considered eligible Three municipalities in the Savinjsko-Šaleška region as well as three municipalities in the region of Zasavje and Zagorje ob Savi will be eligible for support from the JTF Velenje Mayor Peter Dermol praised the good cooperation of local communities with the ministry and the collaboration between mayors in the coal region ‘’The restructuring process is one of the most challenging jobs ahead of us That is why it is all the more important to get the relevant processes through as quickly and efficiently as possible,’’ said Dermol ‘’The JTF will allow the three valleys in the Zasavje region to leapfrog from an industrial to a post-modern society,’’ added Trbovlje Mayor Poznič the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development will issue a funding decision for one of the country’s strategic projects The project is about establishing a Centre for Demonstration and Training in Zero Carbon Technologies in the region that will focus on the research on climate-neutral technologies for the transition to a modern The costs are estimated at over 32 million and the contribution from the JTF will stand at 27.3 million euros ask for a reply