About the company
Despite the national and global trends aiming to transition to a low-carbon or carbon-neutral society, Premogovnik Velenje (Velenje Coal Mine), an associated company of Holding Slovenske Elektrarne, is still an important and indispensable pillar of the Slovene energy industry. Together with Termoelektrarna Šoštanj (Šoštanj Thermal Power Plant), it has been striving for decades to ensure undisturbed and reliable power supply for one third of Slovenia.
We are immensely proud that the foundations of today’s image of the Šaleška dolina Valley are based on mining, as the Velenje Coal Mine has been the main driving force of development of the entire region since 1875, and its impact is often seen beyond the valley, as well.
We have extracted over 264 million tonnes of coal from the depths of the Šaleška dolina Valley. From the initial 3,500 tonnes in 1887, the biggest breakthrough in production happened in the 1980s, when mechanised mining equipment was gradually introduced, which helped us achieve the milestone of over 5 million tonnes of extracted coal per year. Nowadays, our production, which is primarily dependent on the consumption by the Šoštanj Thermal Power Plant, is around 2–2.5 million tonnes of coal per year.
Our story is based principally on tradition and our know-how, technological equipment and technologies that we developed. We participate in some key development and research projects, co-financed by the European funds, which support high-technology development. Every year, our innovations are among the recipients of the highest regional and national awards. For years, we have been spreading knowledge, experience, technology and equipment abroad.
Energy is the means for achieving our goals. By innovative thinking and professional and efficient work, we can improve the competitive position of the entire Velenje Coal Mine Group.
