Czech state-owned ČEPS made a profit of 3.95 billion koruna last year, after a loss the year before

State-owned electricity transmission system operator ČEPS recorded a net profit of 3.95 billion koruna last year, reversing a loss of almost 3.2 billion koruna the year before. Total revenue also rose by roughly a quarter year on year, to more than 32.16 billion koruna. This is according to ČEPS’s annual report; Ekonomický deník also reported the financial results today. These are still unconsolidated results and therefore do not include, for example, Net4Gas and Gas Storage CZ, which ČEPS bought last year.

„2023 can without exaggeration be called the year of energy. It was a watershed period in which important changes took place that affected the shape of the energy sector across the EU,“ said ČEPS Chairman of the Board Martin Durčák.

In this context, he highlighted the acquisition of Net4Gas and Gas Storage CZ, which the state hopes will strengthen domestic energy security. ČEPS bought Net4Gas, the operator of the Czech gas pipeline network, at the end of last year. It will pay a maximum of five billion koruna for the debt-laden company, although the final amount will depend on the company’s performance and whether it meets the agreed financial parameters.

In summer 2023, ČEPS also bought Gas Storage CZ, the operator of six Czech gas storage facilities, for 360 million euros, or more than nine billion koruna. While Gas Storage CZ more than tripled its operating profit last year to almost 1.4 billion koruna, Net4Gas posted a loss of 1.7 billion koruna.

ČEPS also increased investment in the transmission system last year to 6.2 billion koruna, the highest amount invested to date, according to Ekonomický deník. The company said one of the most significant projects completed last year was the modernisation of the Kočín substation, one of the largest construction projects in the Czech Republic’s transmission system. The modernisation took six years and cost almost four billion koruna.

ČEPS operates across the Czech Republic as the exclusive operator of the transmission system under an electricity transmission licence granted by the Energy Regulatory Office pursuant to the Energy Act. It maintains, renews and develops 44 substations with 79 transformers, some of which are used to transfer electricity from the transmission system to the distribution system, as well as power lines with a total length of more than 5700 kilometres. The state owns 100 per cent of the company’s shares through the Ministry of Industry and Trade.