Czech government prepares to launch community energy, must finalize regulations and data center

The state is completing preparations for community energy in Czechia, which is expected to start operating on 1 July. By then, the authorities must finalize nearly ten legal regulations and establish the Electricity Data Center (EDC), at a cost of around one billion korunas. Representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) and the Energy Regulatory Office (ERÚ) told journalists today. They said the deadline would be met.

The creation of energy communities in Czechia was introduced by last year’s amendment to the Energy Act. Energy communities will be able to share locally generated electricity through the distribution grid. The amendment also allows people to share electricity they generate themselves at another connection point, for example, from a holiday cottage to an apartment.

One of the main coordinating centers for community energy will be the Electricity Data Center. It will manage up-to-date data on electricity consumption and generation in the power system. It will also provide data on electricity sharing, showing how much electricity individual self-generators produce and how much they make available to other members of an energy community. According to the center’s head, Petr Kusý, the EDC recently obtained a license from the regulator.

The initial investment to establish the EDC will be around one billion korunas, according to the ministry, with the state planning to use 800 million korunas from EU funds. Under the law, the center is to start operating at the beginning of July.

At the same time, the MPO and ERÚ are working on nearly ten implementing regulations and decrees to ensure electricity sharing works in practice. According to Stanislav Trávníček, chairman of the ERÚ Council, the main task is to amend the decree on the Rules for the Electricity Market. „The decree describes the process for exchanging data between all participants in electricity sharing through the EDC and OTE (the market operator). It covers the allocation of generation and consumption within individual sharing groups, as well as other requirements,“ Trávníček said. Other regulations concern billing and reporting, he added, while the ERÚ is also launching a register of energy communities.

According to Trávníček, work will continue next year, when regulations will need to be updated to reflect the planned development of energy storage and aggregation in the Czech Republic. Participating connection points will need to have an interval meter to share electricity. According to the MPO, their installation will be directly linked to the registration of sharing groups with the EDC. Under the law, distributors will have up to three months to connect the meter.