Czech Chamber of Deputies suspends debate on energy law amendment until Tuesday

The Chamber of Deputies today suspended the second reading of a bill amending the Energy Act, introduced by MPs, which is primarily intended to speed up permitting for new combined-cycle power plants. It will return to the bill next Tuesday. The reason is to give MPs time to prepare and submit their amendments. This concluded today's session of the Chamber of Deputies. MPs will meet again on Thursday morning.

The bill, nicknamed Lex Gas, was submitted by a group of coalition MPs led by Industry Minister Lukáš Vlček (STAN). Speaking to MPs today, the minister stressed that permitting procedures must be accelerated if investment in these power plants is to take place in the future. Combined-cycle power plants are expected to provide sufficient electricity generation capacity as coal is phased out in the coming years. According to an earlier statement by Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS), this will enable Czechia to avoid relying on electricity imports from abroad. The proposal could shorten permitting procedures by up to five years.

At Vlček's proposal, the Chamber of Deputies' Economic Committee recommended adding a measure to the bill that would prohibit the use of devices that dissipate surplus energy, subject to a penalty of up to five million. These devices convert electricity into heat without putting it to any further use. They are connected in situations when electricity prices are negative.

Some amendments have already appeared in the Chamber of Deputies' information system. Vlček and other MPs, for example, have submitted a proposal responding to an earlier amendment to the Energy Act. Despite opposition from both the opposition and the Senate, the amendment, which the Chamber of Deputies voted on Tuesday, introduced individual profitability reviews of solar power plants commissioned in 2009 and 2010. The measure is intended to help the state reduce support for renewable energy from the state budget and applies to power plants with a capacity of more than 30 kilowatts. Vlček's current proposal raises this threshold to 145 kW.