The article brings two main original contributions. The first contri bution is a quantitative definition of the volume of electricity required for both the needs of the country’s development dynamics, with which Slovenia would reach the current level of developed EU countries by 2050, and the needs of the energy trans ition. The analysis shows that the total consumption of electricity is expected to double between 2025 and 2050 in order to ensure an appropriate level of prosper ity and as part of the energy transition. The second contribution of the article lies in defining the optimal electricity system for Slovenia, one that would simultan eously assure the realisation of the two goals and satisfy key criteria. In the article, the suitability of three alternative electricity systems (NEPN OVE, NEPN OVE + nuclear, SAZU-GZS) is assessed from five aspects. We find the SAZU-GZS concept to be superior with respect to all five criteria; namely in terms of: (1) sufficient volumes of electricity; (2) the country’s strategic autonomy when it comes to elec tricity provision; (3) the investment required per unit of electricity produced being cut in half; (4) the lower wholesale price of electricity provision; and (5) meeting the decarbonisation goals of electricity production and consumption in Slovenia. Building on this, we conclude that the right combination of low-carbon sources (primarily nuclear and hydropower, and complementary RES sources of solar and wind) and energy storage is important for sustainable development, whereas en ergy concepts based solely on RES sources are technically unsustainable and/or require significantly bigger investments, and also do not lead to the realisation of climate goals regarding decarbonisation. These findings are consistent with the literature in this area.
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