C-Energy Planá receives EIA clearance for Czech waste-to-energy technology

C-Energy Planá, a heat and electricity producer, has received an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for technology at a waste-to-energy (WtE) facility. The facility in Planá nad Lužnicí in the Tábor region is expected to begin operating in 2027. The EIA covers a fluidized-bed boiler, which will be the main component for incinerating and recovering energy from waste. C-Energy spokesperson Miroslav Beneš informed journalists in a press release.

The boiler is expected to convert up to 50.000 tonnes of mixed municipal waste from the Tábor region into energy each year. A ban on landfilling mixed municipal waste will take effect after 2029. The new technology in Planá nad Lužnicí will replace two boilers at the site of the former heating plant in nearby Tábor, which burn brown coal, fuel oil and brown-coal tar.

“Just ten years ago, more than 300.000 tonnes of coal had to be burned at facilities in Tábor and Planá nad Lužnicí to produce heat for the Tábor urban area. We stopped burning coal in Planá in August 2022. Using mixed municipal waste will allow us to demolish the old boilers in Tábor and install a modern gas-fired unit there to supply heat and electricity during periods of peak demand,” said Ivo Nejdl, managing director of C-Energy Planá.

The cost of the WtE facility will reach 2,1 billion crowns, with part of the cost covered by grants from the Modernisation Fund. “Mixed municipal waste will therefore be an important stabilising element in the future mix of heat and energy sources in the Tábor region,” Nejdl said.

České Budějovice and Písek are also preparing waste-to-energy facilities in the region. The local heating plant plans to build the facility in České Budějovice, with an annual capacity of 160.000 tonnes of waste.