The profit of power utility HSE dropped by 72% to EUR 18.7m, primarily due to a loss generated by the Termoelektrarna Šoštanj (TEŠ) coal-fired plant.

The state-owned HSE group last year generated EUR 398.49m in electricity sales revenues, which is EUR 7.5m less than in the year before and 1.8% below plans, according to a report from the Ministry of Infrastructure released on Wednesday.

TEŠ generated the biggest loss in the group, reaching EUR 27.5m, which is well above the planned EUR 7.3m loss. It was followed by the Termoelektrarna Trbovlje thermal power station with a EUR 21.1m loss.

Dravske elektrarne Maribor, the operator of hydro power plants on the Drava river, meanwhile generated the highest profit in the HSE group, standing at EUR 8.5m.

The mining sector generated a EUR 33.5m loss, of which the Premogovnik Velenje coal mine, owned by HSE and the main coal supplier for TEŠ, alone generated EUR 33m, well above the projected EUR 2.2m loss.

Power utility Gen, which operates the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK), on the other hand increased its profit by 40% last year to EUR 24.73m.

Electricity distributors made a combined EUR 41.1m profit, which is 8% more than in 2013. Elektro Maribor made the biggest profit of EUR 11.4m, followed by Elektro Celje (EUR 11.1m) and Elektro Ljubljana (EUR 8.2m).

Power distribution network operators also saw their profit rise by 18% to EUR 23.5m. Electricity grid operator Eles made the biggest profit among all (EUR 11.2m).

Total electricity consumption in Slovenia last year stood at 23,536 gigawatt hours (GWh), which is 4.7% more than in 2013. The share of domestically produced electricity consumed last year was 69.2%.

The amount of electricity produced in Slovenia last year increased by 8.9% to 16,282 GWh, while imports of electricity were down by 3.6% to 7,254 GWh.