"Small city Velenje" a Velenje Travel Page by Glorija

Due to the lignite mining, the city was expanded especially after the World War II. After the death of Yugoslav president for life Tito it was renamed to Titovo Velenje in 1981, but the old name was returned to the city in 1991, shortly before Slovenia became an independent country.

Velenje is the headquarters of Gorenje, manufacturer of white goods, and former home town of Jolanda Čeplak, Slovenian middle distance athlete and Olympic bronze medalist.

In Velenje three (3) free Wi-fi networks are currently available to public: Velenje.com, Flop Computers and Coffee Shop Nova. You can connect and use the internet at any time.

Lake Velenje is located in one of the most polluted regions of Slovenia, the Salek Valley. The major source of pollution is the coal-fired thermal power plant in Sostanj (TPP).

In the past, dumping of coal ash directly into Lake Velenje and drainage water from the ash disposal site resulted in unique chemical characteristics of the lake water, such as very high pH (10–12) and high concentrations of heavy metals. The introduction of a closed cycle ash transport system in 1995 resulted in a very fast recovery of the lake water quality.

The results of recent studies showed that the major sources of mercury in Lake Velenje are lake inflows and wet deposition. Total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in the water column are very low and can be compared to other non-contaminated freshwater lakes.