Czech Senate likely to approve bill easing construction of heat pipeline from Dukovany to Brno

The planned heat pipeline from the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant to Brno, and potentially other heat distribution infrastructure projects, will likely be classified by the Senate as significant energy infrastructure designated by law. This will make it easier, in particular, to secure the land needed for construction. The change is part of a bill introduced by MPs, which the Senate’s Constitutional and Legal Committee today recommended for approval almost unanimously. The Senate will consider the bill in a week.

The heat pipeline from Dukovany to Brno could be operational within ten years. It was first considered in the 1980s, but was not economically viable at the time because of low gas prices. The consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine changed those plans. The project is included in the planning documents of the Vysočina Region, the South Moravian Region and Brno, a city of around 400,000 people. The pipeline is to run through Oslavany, and its route also includes two tunnels beneath Holedná Hill. One of them, the Chochola tunnel, is already complete, while the other is partially complete.