Czech Industry Ministry to submit energy-sharing amendment to government

The government could discuss an amendment to the Energy Act next week that would enable the sharing of generated energy. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) said in a press release today, according to the Czech News Agency (ČTK). The ministry has addressed comments from the interministerial consultation process and the Government Legislative Council and expects the government to discuss the amendment on Wednesday, 21 June. The amendment will enable the development of so-called community energy, meaning energy sharing between households or various communities, such as municipalities, schools, public authorities or businesses.

Under the proposed amendment, an active customer, meaning a customer who generates electricity, will be able to share electricity with up to ten other customers. This will be possible without any geographical restrictions. „A typical example is an individual who generates electricity on the roof of their cottage but only uses it at weekends, while during the week they send the electricity generated to their flat in the city,“ Industry Minister Jozef Síkela (STAN) said. He added that it could also involve a group of several people, such as a family that generates electricity at one or several of its properties and subsequently shares it.

The amendment introduces so-called energy communities intended for electricity sharing within larger groups. Electricity will be able to be shared among 1,000 community members. They will be able to share electricity generated by joint generation facilities. Members of these communities may include, for example, unit owners' associations, households, municipalities, schools, public authorities or entire small businesses. Sharing within these larger groups will be possible across the territory of up to three municipalities with extended powers.

The establishment of an IT system is necessary for electricity sharing. This will be the Electricity Data Centre (EDC), which will be rolled out gradually; in the first phase, the EDC will ensure the exchange of data related to electricity sharing, the ministry said. The EDC's shareholders will be transmission system operator ČEPS and regional distribution system operators PREdistribuce, ČEZ Distribuce and EG.D. The final solution should be operational from 2026.