Czech municipalities could receive a fee from wind farms, Parliament to decide

Municipalities could receive a fee for wind farms located in their territory. The fee would be based on the amount of electricity generated. This is provided for in a government bill to accelerate the use of renewable energy sources. The government says the Chamber of Deputies is to approve it under an expedited procedure in its first reading at a session starting this afternoon. Environmental protection organisations support the bill. Among other things, it introduces acceleration areas where solar and wind farms will be easier to build.

The fee for wind farms is introduced by an amendment incorporated into the Act on Supported Energy Sources. It will be based on the amount of electricity generated, less the facility’s technological self-consumption. Operators will pay 50 korun for each megawatt-hour of electricity generated in this way, multiplied by a local coefficient. The law sets the coefficient at one, but municipalities will be able to reduce it to zero. The fee rate and the coefficient must then remain unchanged throughout the wind farm’s operating life.

The municipality where the wind farm is located will receive 98 percent of the fee revenue. The remaining two percent will go to the fee administrator, which will be the municipal authority with extended powers responsible for the area where the wind farm is located. In its explanatory memorandum, the government points out that municipalities will still be entitled to conclude a planning agreement with the investor and agree on additional terms in it.

The government justifies the chosen fee level by saying that, assuming a wind farm operates at full capacity for 2000 to 2250 hours per MW annually, the fee would amount to 100,000 to 110,000 korun per MW of installed capacity. For a wind turbine with a currently common capacity of, for example, 4.5 MW, and assuming 2250 operating hours a year, the municipality would receive annual fee revenue of Kč 506,000, the explanatory memorandum says.

"We urgently need wind farms to replace harmful coal burning and ensure secure supplies of affordable electricity. Fees from power plant operators will also bring economic benefits to rural areas. We therefore urge MPs to approve the bill under an expedited procedure in its first reading, so that the designation process can begin in cooperation with regions and municipalities," Jiří Koželouh, head of the energy programme at Hnutí Duha, said in a press release today.

The bill is supported by the Climate Coalition, which, alongside Hnutí Duha, brings together other non-governmental organisations and climate protection initiatives, as well as the association of environmental organisations Zelený kruh.

The state plans to significantly increase the share of renewable energy sources in the future. They currently account for about one fifth of the total. Under the National Energy and Climate Plan approved last year, the share of renewables is to rise to at least 30 percent by 2030.