Plan: renewables share to reach 30 percent in Czechia by 2030; critics say this is too little

The share of renewable energy in total consumption in Czechia is expected to rise from around 18 percent currently to 30 percent by 2030. This is envisaged in the latest draft of the National Energy and Climate Plan. However, it does not yet reflect the new EU directive, under which the average share of renewable energy across the EU should reach 42.5 percent, according to findings by the Czech News Agency (ČTK). Critics say the national target should therefore be higher. The plan also envisages ending coal combustion in 2033.

The draft is currently undergoing interministerial consultation. The government is expected to discuss it in October and then submit it to the European Commission for assessment, after which it should consult further with the Commission and make any necessary revisions. However, this is not yet the final version of the national Climate and Energy Plan, which the country should submit to the Commission by next summer.

The draft sets out several possible scenarios. Under the preferred scenario, the government aims to increase the share of renewable energy mainly by developing solar and wind power. The plan therefore envisages adding 10.1 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity from grid-connected photovoltaic power plants and 1.5 GW of wind power capacity by 2030. Hundreds of new wind turbines could be built as a result.

The plan does not yet include the targets set out in a new directive recently approved by EU institutions. The directive aims for clean energy to account for 42.5 percent of total energy consumption in the EU by 2030. This target is intended as an average for the EU as a whole and does not apply to individual countries. The EU-wide share currently stands at around 22 percent. The government wants to incorporate the new EU target into the plan only after the directive enters into force.

Critics say, however, that a 30 percent share is not enough. The Chamber of Renewable Energy Sources presented its own analysis in recent days, finding that the share of electricity and heat consumed from renewable sources could be increased to more than 35 percent by 2030. Friends of the Earth Czech Republic is also calling for a higher national renewable energy target. The group says the draft imposes unnecessary caps on renewable sources and fails to make use of their potential in the country. “As a result, it does not set out a path for the Czech Republic to meet its fair share of the new EU-wide renewable energy target,” said Jiří Koželouh, head of the group’s energy programme.

In addition to renewable sources, the draft Climate and Energy Plan envisages expanding nuclear power in the future, with nuclear expected to be a key component of the country’s energy sector in the coming decades, and phasing out coal by 2033. However, international think tank Ember warns that the country’s mines will begin to close gradually as soon as next year, and that in such a case the government would have to switch coal-fired power plants to gas. The think tank’s representatives also say the draft does not take a number of other possible developments into account.