The new E.ON combined-cycle power station in Malženice (near Trnava, western Slovakia) has been officially inaugurated today in the presence of representatives of the national government, regional and local authorities, and the general contractor.

The power plant has been symbolically turned on by Minister of Economy Juraj Miškov, Minister of Environment József Nagy, Member of the Board Management E.ON AG Jørgen Kildahl and Chairman of the Board, E.ON Slovensko Konrad Kreuzer.

The power plant featuring an installed capacity of 436 MW is annually producing up to 3 billion kWh of electricity. With its production capacity, it is capable of covering the equivalent demand of an average annual consumption of 600,000 to 900,000 households. The power plant is achieving power production efficiency levels of more than 59 %, which is among the highest in Europe. The commercial operation started in December 2010. The plant was built by Siemens, which was the general contractor and supplier of key components and technologies.

“The 400-million euro investment of E.ON represents the largest energy investment in Slovakia realised by the company in recent years. We are glad that the power plant started its operations on schedule and supplies energy to the Slovak transmission system in an efficient and environmentally friendly way,” said J. Kildahl.

The Malženice power plant can flexibly and reliably adjust to energy demand on the market. Therefore it significantly stabilises the Slovak transmission system and plays an important role in ensuring stability and security of energy supply in Slovakia. Especially an increasing power generation from renewables means that efficient and flexible power plants like this one will be needed to balance variable capacity inserts of wind or sun.

By commissioning the power plant, E.ON has created 30 new permanent jobs and has given various contracts to companies in the region.

Construction works started in November 2008 and the power plant was finished on schedule within just 26 months.