HSE, the holding controlling one of Slovenia's two groups of power stations, has paid back in full the €492 million capital injection it received from the state in late 2022 amid the energy crisis.

The company announced on 30 May that it had paid back the final €75 million. This was after it first repaid €100 million in June 2023, followed by €142 million and €100 million in September and December that year and €75 million in March 2024.

HSE was able to return the state aid while supplying electricity at regulated rates because of successful operations of the HSE group in 2023 and the first half of 2024, HSE director general Tomaž Štokelj said.

He believes this would not have been possible without dedicated work of employees, good risk management, and efficient energy production and trade management.

Repaying the aid quickly will allow HSE to speed up the construction of hydro, solar and wind plants, the company said. It will be able to invest in hydrogen technologies, geothermal energy, biomass and technologies related to flexibility, digitalisation, smart networks and virtual plants.

"Retailers ECE and Energina plus will play an important role in the future as they will actively build an environmentally conscious network of end customers with new products and services," HSE said.

Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) recapitalised the power utility at the end of 2022 to shore up its liquidity amid major problems at its core hydro and coal generation facilities during the peak of the energy crisis.

After the capital injection, SSH strengthened its supervisory role, monitoring the use of the capital injection funds and addressed concrete expectations to manage risks and plan and manage liquidity more effectively.