The Brežice hydro power plant is the largest and penultimate power plant in a chain of power plants on the lower Sava River. Its cost is estimated at around 278 million euros. The plant is as tall as a 14 storey building; most of it is under water. This week, after three and a half years of construction work, the plant was granted a one year trial and it is already operating.

"The Brežice hydro power plant is the largest plant in the chain. Thanks to it, production will increase by between 40% and 50% . We will also take advantage of the flexibility we have within the entire chain of production in order to produce energy when Slovenia needs it most," said Bogdan Barbič, head of the company Hidroelektrarne na spodnji Savi.

The infrastructure is not completely finished and the local community is still waiting for a flood protection scheme to be built. According to Environment Minister Irena Majcen those works will start this year.