ČEZ to build two large solar power plants in the Chomutov region of Czechia for a total of CZK 4.2 billion

Energy company ČEZ will build two large solar power plants in the Chomutov region. Each is expected to have a capacity of more than 100 megawatts (MW), more than three times the capacity of the largest solar power plants currently operating in Czechia. The company will receive grants of more than CZK 1 billion from the Modernisation Fund towards the investments, which will cost a total of CZK 4.2 billion. Ekonomický deník reported today, citing contracts signed by the State Environmental Fund with ČEZ at the end of March. ČEZ spokesperson Barbora Peterová told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) in response to a query that construction is expected to begin around the turn of 2025 and 2026.

The planned solar power plants are to be built on reclaimed brown coal mining sites in northern Bohemia. ČEZ is preparing the larger project in Tušimice, where the facility is expected to have a capacity of 126.7 MW. The second project, named Vysočany – Plató, is to have an installed capacity of 115.7 MW.

„The standard permitting processes required to begin construction are currently under way, particularly the updating of the Ústí nad Labem Region’s land-use planning principles and amendments to municipal planning documents,“ Peterová said about the projects.

She said the company expects construction to begin around the turn of 2025 and 2026.

Once completed, they are expected to be the largest solar power plants in Czechia. The largest currently operating are ČEZ Group’s Ralsko PV plant, with a total capacity of 38.3 MW, and the Czech Novum PV plant near Vepřek in the Mělník region, with a capacity of 35.1 MW, built by Decci Group. Both were completed during the first solar boom in Czechia in 2010. Other large-scale solar projects are also in the pipeline, including another ČEZ project near Kadaň, where a power plant with a capacity of 87.65 MW is planned, Ekonomický deník also reported.

Peterová noted that one of the largest other planned solar investments is at Prunéřov, where the company is considering projects with a capacity of up to 243 MW. „In general, we can say that we are developing solar power plant projects with a capacity of around 400 MW in the Tušimice-Prunéřov area,“ the spokesperson added.

According to the newspaper, ČEZ is also preparing other projects with capacities in the tens of megawatts. Last year, it signed a package of 20 agreements with the State Environmental Fund to finance solar parks with a total capacity of around 235 MW, the newspaper reported. The agreements cover the construction of solar power plants, for example, in the Ústí nad Labem and Moravian-Silesian regions, mostly on former mining or industrial sites. The company has previously announced a target of building solar and wind power plants with a capacity of up to 6,000 MW by 2030. ČEZ is currently building seven solar power plants with a total capacity of 38.4 MW.

Other companies are also preparing large solar parks. According to the newspaper, entrepreneur Pavel Tykač’s Sev.en Group recently signed agreements with the State Environmental Fund for grants for five large solar power plants in the Most region, with a total capacity of 121.8 MW. SUAS Group is preparing three solar power plants with a total capacity of 45 MW in the Karlovy Vary Region.