At least 200 MW of solar added in Czechia this year, with hundreds more MW possibly in small-scale installations

According to statistics from the Energy Regulatory Office, licences for solar power plants with a capacity of 203 MWp were issued this year. In reality, however, the addition of new solar power plants will be even higher. The Energy Regulatory Office's statistics are based on granted electricity generation licences. However, sources with a capacity of up to 50 kW do not require a licence. These smaller sources may therefore not be included in the statistics.

After years of stagnation, the Czech Republic is reviving not only in terms of solar electricity generation, but also in terms of newly installed capacity. Last year was already a record year in this respect: according to statistics from the Solar Association, nearly 1000 MWp of new solar power plants were added over the full year.

The positive trend continued in the first half of this year, at least according to statistics from the Energy Regulatory Office, which publishes a list of electricity generation facilities in the Czech Republic that have been granted a licence.

At least 203 MWp of photovoltaic capacity was therefore added in the first half of the year. According to Energy Regulatory Office data, practically the same amount of licensed capacity was added in just the first half of this year as during the whole of last year.

The statistics also show that licences for more than 100 MWp of installed capacity were issued in the second quarter alone. Since 2023, when the Energy Regulatory Office began publishing these statistics, this is the first quarter in which new installations exceeded this threshold.

As many as 41 solar power plants above 1 MWp were built

In the first half of this year, as many as 41 companies commissioned solar power plants with a capacity of 1 MWp or more. However, none exceeded 10 MWp of installed capacity.

OMGD, s.r.o., came closest to surpassing this mark, commissioning the 9.5 MWp FVE 2 Kaznějov solar power plant. It was followed by a company from the CTP group with 8.14 MWp of newly installed capacity and ČEZ with 7.19 MWp.

New solar capacity in the first half will be even higher

The total installed capacity of solar power plants in the first half of this year will very probably be much higher than indicated by Energy Regulatory Office statistics. This was also the case last year, when the authority's statistics showed only around 200 MWp of new solar power plants. In reality, however, there were far more: according to the Solar Association's estimate, as much as 970 MWp. Most of this capacity was installed at households, which in most cases do not require a licence due to their low installed capacity.

While large solar parks have so far been slow to emerge, the trend should reverse in the coming years. Large parks can be developed mainly thanks to investment subsidies from the Modernisation Fund, under which ČEZ, for example, plans to build up to 900 MWp of installed capacity.

Large solar parks are also expected to be built despite still being unable to obtain operating support. The government has the option of holding auctions for operating support for solar sources, but has not yet done so.

Operating support will almost certainly not be awarded this year. No decision has yet been made on operating support for next year. The government has again proposed that no operating support be awarded; however, the relevant government regulation setting out operating support has not yet been issued.

The absence of operating support may be a substantial problem for solar power plants. Given the fall in electricity prices on wholesale markets, operators must expect revenues from electricity sales to be lower than, for example, last year. The economics of operations may also be threatened by the increasingly frequent occurrence of low or negative electricity prices.

Moreover, low and negative prices occur most often around midday, when solar power plants generally generate the most. Revenues from electricity sales are therefore lower than, for example, in the evening hours. This also negatively affects the return on investment in solar sources.

An alternative for generators may be to conclude a direct electricity sales agreement with an electricity consumer. Under such an agreement, the generator can secure a price different from that on the day-ahead market, for example by fixing the sale price through a contract for difference.