Czechs to be able to establish energy communities to share generated energy, Ministry of Industry and Trade proposes

Czechs will be able to establish energy communities to share locally generated electricity. Sharing will be possible through the distribution grid. This should be enabled from the beginning of next year. This is envisaged by a proposed amendment to the Energy Act, finalised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO). The amendment also newly defines the so-called vulnerable customer, who will receive special protection in the event of possible disconnection from supply. The proposal should now be considered by the government. Supporters of community energy have broadly welcomed the proposal, describing it as landmark legislation.\n\nThe amendment follows on from previous changes that responded to problems in the energy market and were intended to facilitate the use of renewable energy sources. The proposal therefore introduces energy communities and renewable energy communities as new market participants. These communities, which will become legal entities, will be based on the joint generation of energy, for example by solar or wind power plants, and its subsequent sharing among their members. Typically, this could involve energy sharing between households or among different communities, such as municipalities, schools, public authorities or businesses.\n\nAccording to the ministry, the administrative framework for energy communities and their operation in the energy market should facilitate the implementation of community projects for generating and sharing energy. The proposal, for example, provides for the installation of interval consumption metering or the creation of a system capable of assessing generation and consumption at a given moment and the subsequent sharing of electricity. The communities will then provide these outputs to the supplier as a basis for billing.\n\nAnother new feature of the proposal is the definition of the so-called vulnerable customer. It should primarily protect customers with specified health disabilities. For them, the proposal introduces selected protective measures in the event of energy supply problems.\n

\nThe ministry submitted its first proposal last autumn, when it launched it into the interministerial consultation process. Supporters of community energy then criticised the fact that the proposal gave energy suppliers the possibility of preventing the effective functioning of communities. Following revisions to the proposal, they say this has now changed. Hnutí Duha described the proposal as a compromise between energy companies and consumers. However, according to the movement, it will help the development of renewable energy sources. At the same time, the movement pointed out that approval of the changes has been delayed and that steps must be accelerated to make sharing possible from the beginning of next year.\n\nAccording to the Community Energy Union (UKEN), Parliament must approve the amendment by the middle of this year. The union considers the removal of discrimination against community members by suppliers and the precise definition of the rights and obligations of market participants in electricity sharing to be key elements of the proposal. “It is crucial that the proposal also considers the protection of those customers who become members of energy communities. If a member no longer wishes to participate in electricity sharing, for example because of high membership fees, they can end the sharing without penalties and the community must end sharing for that person. If an energy community were to continue forcing its member to share, the Energy Regulatory Office could impose a fine of up to Kč 15 million,” said Eliška Beranová, a lawyer at Frank Bold and UKEN.\n\nThe proposed amendment follows previous changes to the Energy Act. One of them is an amendment to the decree on electricity market rules, which allows residents of apartment buildings to use energy from, for example, a photovoltaic power plant. Another new measure is an increase to 50 kilowatts in the threshold for a power generation licence, professional qualifications and a building permit.