“take energy into our own hands.” first year of community energy in Czechia

Community energy makes it possible to share electricity from renewable energy sources (RES) and strengthen energy self-sufficiency. Lex RES II opened the way for participation through active customers or energy communities. Successfully implemented projects show that community energy can take different forms – from sharing in apartment buildings to large energy communities connecting hundreds of consumption points. The new KOMUNERG subsidy programme is set to provide major support for its development.

Community energy is a way for households, municipalities and companies to jointly use electricity from RES. A key step was the adoption of the amendment to the Energy Act, effective from 2024. 

However, a pioneering electricity-sharing project had already been implemented in 2023, as Markéta Zemanová, a member of the Energy Regulatory Office (ERÚ) Board, said at the Community Energy Conference in Třebíč. It was a limited sharing model in apartment buildings, enabled by an ERÚ regulation. This model also became the basic starting point for setting legislation for further sharing models, this time via the distribution grid.

Markéta Zemanová sees community energy and sharing as an opportunity to strengthen self-sufficiency, increase resilience to price fluctuations and at the same time involve local people in regional development: 

“Community energy is an important element of the transformation of the Czech energy sector. It perfectly fulfils the so-called ‘3Ds’ associated with this change – decarbonisation, decentralisation and democratisation. I see it as a good opportunity to take energy into our own hands and ensure self-sufficiency, if not 100%, then at least to a certain extent. Partial self-sufficiency can make people more resilient to price crises and price fluctuations. Another clear benefit is the involvement of citizens, local companies, traders and local authorities, which improves the social acceptance of renewable energy sources.” 

Sharing groups

Lex RES II introduced new concepts into Czech law that are crucial for community energy: sharing groups. The first group is the so-called active customer. It can have up to 11 members across the Czech Republic. According to Šárka Fialová from E.ON, active customers are the most common and popular type of group. The model is simple and is not subject to such significant restrictions.

The second group is energy communities. Unlike active customers, they require registration with the ERÚ. Until the end of June next year, restrictions apply regarding the scale and geographical scope of communities. The maximum is set at 1,000 consumption points and three neighbouring municipalities with extended powers.In apartment buildings, where sharing takes place behind a single main building connection, electricity can even be shared without distribution charges.

How sharing works

Sharing takes place in 15-minute intervals, during which the electricity generated must be consumed. It is therefore necessary to match suitable locations based on expected consumption and generation when planning. For example, in the case of photovoltaics, peak electricity generation from solar panels usually occurs between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. From the perspective of individual consumption points in a municipality, the town hall and school are therefore typically the most suitable for electricity sharing, as their consumption profiles best match the generation curve. 

In the summer months, however, electricity consumption in school buildings falls significantly. This can be addressed by changing the settings under the so-called allocation key, which determines the proportion of electricity distributed to individual consumption points. Batteries can also be incorporated as sources of flexibility as part of optimisation.

E.ON offers those interested in joining electricity sharing its Sharing Partner service free of charge. It provides guidance throughout the entire process – from establishing a sharing group to setting the allocation key.

Community energy in practice

A number of inspiring examples demonstrating the diverse forms of community energy in practice were presented at the Community Energy of Cities and Municipalities Conference organised by E.ON.

Vysoké Popovice is one of the municipalities where energy sharing got under way this year. A 20 kWp photovoltaic plant was built on the roof of the local school, and consumption points include, in addition to the educational institution, the municipal office and a retail kiosk. Mayor Petra Hanáková expects the initial investment to pay back in approximately three years.

Another example is the Enerkom Slovácko association, which already brings together seven sharing groups and nearly one hundred members. Around two-thirds are individual citizens, with the rest comprising entrepreneurs, municipalities and publicly funded organisations. Since sharing began in the region in April, 160 consumption points have joined the system.

Another example is Zlín, where an energy community managed by the city-owned company Teplo Zlín, a.s. has been established. The community focuses on installing photovoltaic plants on municipal buildings. It currently operates generation facilities with a capacity of 380 kWp and plans to expand this up to twelvefold in the future.

Insufficient grid capacity

The Vysočina Region has begun installing photovoltaic plants on the buildings of its large energy-intensive institutions so that they can become partly self-sufficient in electricity. According to regional governor Martin Kukla, however, they often encounter grid connection capacity constraints, which prevent the full potential from being utilised.

“An example is the town of Ždírec nad Doubravou, where we are building a photovoltaic plant with a capacity of around 50 kWp, although the roofs could accommodate much more. We would consume its electricity, but the distributor did not allow a higher capacity,” he noted.

According to René Neděla, director general of the energy section at the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO), capacity is being blocked by so-called speculators who reserve a certain capacity but never connect. The issue is addressed by this year's amendment to the Energy Act, known as lex gas. This legislation changes the rules for concluding connection agreements for new power plants and battery storage facilities to the distribution or transmission system. Under the new rules, part of the deposit paid will be non-refundable, to ensure that agreements are concluded only for projects with a realistic chance of implementation. Its amount will be determined by the ERÚ in a regulation on connection conditions; the deposit may not exceed 50 million Kč.

The new rules also apply to agreements concluded before the law took effect, if the facility has not yet been connected. The law requires all existing agreements to be supplemented within 15 months by an addendum containing an obligation to pay the non-refundable portion.

New subsidy programme launched

At the end of October, the Ministry of the Environment, together with the State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic, launched the new KOMUNERG subsidy programme, intended to facilitate the development of energy communities and investment in renewable energy sources. They allocated one billion crowns to projects focused on generating and sharing green electricity within local communities. The funds come from the EU Modernisation Fund, financed from revenues from the emissions trading system.

The same amount is reserved in case demand for support exceeds the allocated funding. Support is designed flexibly – applicants can use a subsidy, a preferential loan with a maturity of 5 to 10 years, or a combination of both instruments. A condition is that own financing must account for at least 10 % of the total project costs. Applications will begin to be accepted from mid-December.

The future of community energy

After the first year since registrations for electricity sharing began at the Electricity Data Centre , more than 16 thousand generation points and over 25 thousand consumption points had been registered in August this year. Together, they had already exchanged more than 33 GWh of electricity.

Experts' views on the benefits of community energy differ considerably. Jiří Krista, a board member of the Community Energy Union and chair of Enorkom Opavsko, expects a massive boom. In his view, by 2030 as many as one-third of municipalities and half of citizens could be involved in some form of community energy.

By contrast, Jan Krčmář, executive director of the Solar Association, has doubts about the take-off of community energy in the Czech Republic. In his view, expectations are greater than the actual benefits will be, although he sees potential for municipalities and their buildings.