The Slovak government approved the modernization of the Gabčíkovo Hydroelectric Power Plant as a strategic investment on Wednesday, based on a proposal by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment Tomáš Taraba (nominated by the SNS). The planned start date for the project is January 2026, with a completion target of March 2036. The estimated investment costs for the project are €360 million excluding VAT.
In the submitted proposal, the Ministry of Environment emphasized that the realization of the "Innovation and Modernization of the Gabčíkovo Hydroelectric Power Plant" project is a significant step in the development of Slovakia's energy infrastructure and will play a key role in maintaining the country’s energy stability. "It is the largest hydroelectric plant, which, among other things, provides support services and contributes to increasing the capacity of the water structure to discharge increased flood flows," added the Ministry.
The Ministry also pointed out that the costs associated with securing the investment will be covered by the state-owned company Vodohospodárska výstavba (VV) and the investment will not have any unbudgeted impacts on the public sector budget.
The leadership of the state-owned enterprise requested the minister to consider designating the modernization of Gabčíkovo as a strategic investment. "The aim is to allow as open and transparent a competition as possible and to ensure the acceleration of processes to avoid delays in the implementation phase that the company cannot afford," explained Peter Molda, the General Director of VV, on Tuesday (February 4). He added that announcing a new competition would create greater space to enhance competition.
Source: TASR
