Czech distributors connected several times more new solar plants last year

Interest in solar power plants in Czechia continued to grow severalfold last year. Distributors increased the number of newly connected photovoltaic power plants by tens of thousands, with ČEZ Distribuce adding 31,000, for example. Total installed capacity also rose significantly. Distributors are therefore continuing to increase investment in grid development. This is according to information provided by the companies to the Czech News Agency.

In the largest distribution network, ČEZ Distribuce connected a record 52,109 photovoltaic power plants last year, with an installed capacity of 605.5 MW. The year before, the number of newly connected sources was around 31,000 lower, and total capacity was three times lower. According to ČEZ data, the vast majority last year were rooftop installations on family homes; around 92.5 percent of applications concerned sources of up to ten kW connected to the low-voltage network, mostly with a battery.

„We increased our total investment to CZK 16.5 billion last year, of which CZK 6.5 billion went towards necessary upgrades to strengthen the grids in response to the increased number of applications to connect generation facilities. This year, we will invest a total of CZK 18.6 billion, with an estimated CZK 7.7 billion going towards connecting renewable generators,“ said Martin Zmelík, CEO of ČEZ Distribuce.

In addition to connecting new installations, ČEZ also increased the number of its own installations. ČEZ Prodej and ČEZ Esco installed rooftop solar power plants with a total capacity of 52 MW last year, a 75 percent year-on-year increase. „ČEZ ESCO is also currently building additional photovoltaic plants with a total capacity of 20 MW,“ spokesperson Roman Gazdík said.

EG.D also almost tripled the number of connections to its network, connecting more than 30,300 new renewable energy sources last year. This figure is approximately ten times higher than in 2021. Most of the new sources were photovoltaic power plants, with the greatest interest in home solar installations with a capacity of up to ten kW. The installed photovoltaic capacity connected to the grid exceeded 210 MW, more than double the previous year's figure. However, interest in new connections declined, with applications down 6,000 year on year to around 31,000.

„We are constantly working on grid investments that will increase capacity, and we raise the level of investment every year. However, energy infrastructure projects take years to complete because of all the permitting processes, not weeks. Last year, we also took measures that improved and accelerated the processing of applications to install photovoltaic power plants,“ spokesperson Roman Šperňák said.

PREdistribuce, which operates the distribution network mainly in Prague, also recorded a sharp increase. It connected 3,298 installations in Prague last year, with a total capacity of 35.26 MW. The number of new sources was up almost 265 percent year on year. According to spokesperson Karel Hanzelka, customers most often installed smaller power plants at their family homes, with an average capacity of around five to seven KW. PREdistribuce also recorded a decline in the number of new applications, which the spokesperson attributed mainly to the temporary suspension of subsidies last year.

„Given the robustness of our network in the capital, we did not have to implement any additional measures to increase its capacity in response to connecting such a large number of generation facilities,“ Hanzelka added.

The sharp increase in the number of new sources in the grid last year also led to the first operational problems. ČEPS, the transmission system operator, disconnected hundreds of Czech photovoltaic power plants from the grid for two hours over Easter. The reason was an imbalance in output across the electricity system. This was the first time ČEPS had used such a restriction in real-world operations.