Vlček: Coalition has votes to override Senate on Czech energy act amendment

The governing coalition has enough votes to pass the lower house version of the amendment to the Energy Act, according to Minister of Industry and Trade Lukáš Vlček (STAN). On Monday, the minister addressed the Senate’s objections to the amendment in another energy bill that the lower house will debate. These include, for example, the criticised proposal to allow inspections of older photovoltaic systems. According to the minister, any individual inspections would be permitted only for larger installations, not those on family homes. Another amendment concerns building development in large cities, Vlček said at a press conference ahead of today’s lower house session.

Senators returned the amendment to the lower house, opposing in particular the new conditions for individual inspections of some solar power plants and calling for them to be removed from the bill. The amendment introduces rules for electricity storage and aggregation. Individual assessments of the profitability of solar power plants with a capacity of more than 30 kilowatts, commissioned in 2009 and 2010, were added to the bill in the lower house. According to Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura (ODS), stricter inspections are intended to prevent some solar power plant operators from receiving more support than they are entitled to. The measure should reduce support for renewable energy sources from the state budget. Vlček has now proposed allowing inspections of installations with a capacity of more than 145 kilowatts.

Critics say this amounts to changing the rules mid-game, which could lead to arbitration and jeopardise the fulfilment of climate commitments. Senators say the new inspections of some photovoltaic installations constitute a „restrictive and arbitrary intervention in the business environment“ and would conflict with EU regulations. „We are defending the stability and predictability of the business environment,“ said Miroslav Plevný (STAN), chair of the Senate’s Economic Affairs Committee, earlier.

Vlček attached the changes to a bill known as lex plyn. He had already added other amendments to it, including a ban on using equipment to waste surplus energy, punishable by a fine of up to five million. The bill is intended to speed up construction of combined-cycle gas power plants, potentially shortening the permitting process by up to five years. Gas-fired power plants should provide sufficient capacity to generate electricity as coal is phased out.