ČEZ plans major solar project in Tušimice with the Czech Republic’s largest photovoltaic plant

Energy company ČEZ plans to build a major solar project at the Tušimice-Prunéřov site in the Ústí nad Labem Region, which is set to include the largest photovoltaic power plant in the Czech Republic. It would have an installed capacity of up to 87.65 megawatts (MW), more than double that of the country’s current largest solar power plant. Ekonomický deník reported this today. ČEZ spokeswoman Barbora Peterová told the Czech News Agency that the overall project comprises several power plants, which will be combined at a single grid connection point.

ČEZ wants to build the project on reclaimed land following brown coal mining and has now applied to the regional authority for approval. Peterová said the project would rank among the company’s largest planned installations. “The planned installed capacity should be 243 MW, although in practice this consists of several photovoltaic power plants combined at a single grid connection point,” she said. The company is currently negotiating a change to the zoning plan and an update to the regional development principles, she added.

According to Ekonomický deník, documents submitted to the authority state that the largest part of the project should have an installed capacity of up to 87.65 MW. However, the final output is expected to be lower, with reserved capacity of around 73 MW. The largest photovoltaic power plant to date is Ralsko, also operated by ČEZ, with a capacity of 38.3 MW, the news site reported. The solar plant will cover 63 hectares, where almost 160.000 solar panels will be installed, it said. It will be connected to the grid at the transformer station of the Prunéřov I power plant.

Peterová also noted that ČEZ is currently preparing photovoltaic projects with a capacity of around 400 MW at the Tušimice-Prunéřov site. “We are pleased that these types of projects, located on our own land and, moreover, on a brownfield site, are among those successful in the current call of the Modernisation Fund and have been awarded grants,” she added.