Czech grid operator ČEPS to invest CZK 84 billion in substations and networks over the next decade

State-owned ČEPS will invest around CZK 84 billion in developing the transmission system over the next ten years. The money will go towards substations and networks, ČEPS Chairman Martin Durčák said today on Czech Television’s Václav Moravec’s Questions program. In the coming years, ČEPS will invest up to three times as much as it has invested on average in the past, according to Durčák.

"As far as ČEPS is concerned, in the first few years we’ll invest somewhere around CZK 16 billion, which means ten this year, 16 next year, probably the same the following year, and then there should be a certain decline," Durčák said.

Durčák described the Czech transmission system as robust. "In the coming years, what we’ll be doing will mainly be investing in substations. That will also include investments related to Dukovany," Durčák said.

Durčák did not say whether the higher costs would be reflected in electricity prices in Czechia. "That depends. If there were no subsidies and we had no investments covered by grants, then the costs would probably be passed on. If part of the costs were not covered by the budget or other sources outside customers’ bills, and if all of it had to be borne by customers alone, then of course prices would rise," he said. "But there are also certain revenues to offset this, such as those generated by ČEPS from congestion," he added. According to him, congestion revenues represent the price difference between electricity exports and imports and amount to CZK 3–4 billion a year.

Experts from Czechia are also taking part in the investigation into the massive power outage in Spain. The results should be available within a few months, Durčák said today on Václav Moravec’s Questions. The expert commission will examine the causes of the outage as well as the subsequent response, he said, and its final report will be comprehensive.

State-owned energy group ČEPS, which includes gas companies Net4Gas and Gas Storage alongside its parent company, reported a net profit of CZK 19.6 billion in 2023. The high profit was due mainly to the valuation of its acquisitions of gas companies. The group made a loss of more than CZK 3.2 billion in 2022, although it did not yet include some companies at the time.