Czech solar PV owners must have an imbalance contract from today or face fines

By today at the latest, owners of solar power plants must have a contract with an electricity supplier covering responsibility for so-called imbalance. This is the difference between expected and actual electricity generation. If they do not have one, they face fines of hundreds of crowns for unauthorised deliveries to the grid. The requirement was introduced by an amendment to the Energy Act.

"Owners of household PV systems who do not arrange for an electricity supplier to take responsibility for the imbalance associated with their generation EAN code by 1. 7. 2025 at the latest face financial penalties from July for unauthorised deliveries to the grid," ČEZ Group, for example, said.

According to information from electricity distributors in early June, around 10,000 PV owners had yet to arrange this.

Most PV systems registered by the end of last year have a single combined EAN code, assigned free of charge by the distributor. This is a unique 18-digit numerical code used to identify a consumption point. From 1 July, however, legislation requires solar installations to have two EAN codes: one for consumption and one for generation. For the generation code, owners must also agree with their chosen electricity trader that it will take responsibility for so-called imbalance—the difference between planned and actual generation, which is subject to charges. Without this, electricity cannot be sold or shared. The measure also applies to operators who are not contractually permitted to feed surplus electricity into the grid.