Siting and Authorisation

Siting a new electric power facility and acquiring permits until the start of construction, are long processes. They involve many stakeholders and can also include the public at some stages.

The placement is carried out in accordance with the Act on the siting of spatial arrangements of national importance in the physical space (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 80/10, 106/10 – corr. and 57/12) ) following the procedure for drafting a national spatial plan (DPN). The procedure shown in the figure can be simplified based on the characteristics of the planned spatial arrangement and the space that is planned to be crossed. With the amendments to the legislation, the procedure may be significantly extended due to the repetitions of certain stages of the procedure.

Spatial planning involves many stakeholders:

  • the initiator: Ministry of Infrastructure, Directorate for Energy;
  • the proposer: ELES company;
  • the coordinator: Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Spatial Planning, Construction and Housing Directorate;
  • others: spatial planning authorities, municipalities, non-governmental organisations and associations, civil initiatives and individuals.

 

The spatial planning process

  • The Ministry of Infrastructure, Directorate for Energy, reviews, confirms and submits the proposal for the national spatial plan (DPN) draft to the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, which publishes the proposal on-line. The proposal can be subjected to suggestions and comments. After that, the ministry collects the data and guidelines of the spatial planning authorities.
  • Based on the analysis of the guidelines and expert materials and discussion at the spatial conference, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopts the decision on drafting the national spatial plan (DPN).
  • Designers and experts for spatial planning and the environment collect all publicly available input data and guidelines and form preliminary solutions, the draft of the environmental report and the study of variants, while suggesting the most suitable one. If needed, they also form other expert groundwork, such as an expert opinion on flood risk influences and an appendix of impacts on nature and other protected areas. At this stage, possible variants are compared.
  • The study of variants and all materials are publicly disclosed in all the municipalities and published on-line for at least a month, during which the public and municipalities may submit comments and suggestions. Public discussions where suggestions and comments can be made are also carried out.
  • The coordinator, initiator, proposer and experts participating in the documentation preparation express their views on suggestions and comments from public disclosure and discussions.
  • The coordinator collects the first opinions of the national spatial planning authorities and the opinion on the acceptability of impacts from the environmental report. All the expert materials are amended and coordinated and sent to the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, which then adopts the decision on the most suitable variant.
  • Based on the prepared detailed expert groundwork for planning, the creators of the documentation prepare a draft of the national spatial plan (DPN) and a report on the environmental impacts. At this stage, the selected variant is discussed in detail.
  • The draft of the national spatial plan (DPN) and all prepared materials are publicly disclosed in all the municipalities on the future route and published on the website for at least a month. The interested public and municipalities may again submit their comments and suggestions to the disclosed materials. During this period, public discussions at which suggestions and comments can be made are also carried out.
  • The coordinator, initiator, proposer and experts participating in the documentation preparation express their views on the suggestions and comments from public disclosure and discussions again.
  • The coordinator collects the second opinions of the national spatial planning authorities and acquires the environmental protection consent. All the expert materials are amended and coordinated and sent to the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, which adopts the Decree on the national spatial plan (DPN), which is then published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

 

Public participation

Public participation in the process of the placement of electric power facilities in the physical space is based on two pillars of the Aarhus Convention :

To achieve a greater acceptability of electric power facilities in the local community, the ELES company performs additional activities if needed.

The process of siting enables public participation in different stages of the process:

  1. After the initiative is published on the website of the competent ministry, the public may submit their suggestions. During this time, guidelines, data, and suggestions may also be submitted by the municipalities affected by the proposed spatial arrangement. Suggestions and comments are discussed in the guidelines analysis.
  2. During the public disclosure of the study of variants and expert groundwork, which, depending on the type of facility, include the environmental report. During the disclosure, public presentations where the public can submit comments and suggestions are also carried out. All the received suggestions and comments are professionally discussed in the answers to the questions and comments, which are signed by the competent representatives of the initiator and coordinator.
  3. During the public disclosure of the national spatial plan (DPN) and expert groundwork, which, depending on the type of facility, include the environmental report. During the disclosure, public presentations where the public can submit comments and suggestions are carried out. All the received suggestions and comments are, at this stage as well, professionally discussed in the answers to the questions and comments, which are signed by the competent representatives of the initiator and coordinator.

The ELES company and the owners of the lands in the planning area of the national spatial plan (DPN) or in the impact area of the facility conclude a contract on the establishment of easements on the land plots.