Will the Czech energy policy be approved on Monday?

A key date for the adoption of the Updated State Energy Policy (ASEK) is approaching. According to a statement by the deputy minister of industry and trade, it should finally be approved on Monday, 18 May. Deputy Minister Pavel Šolc announced this at an international energy regulatory forum in Prague.

ASEK is a strategic Czech document that will be binding on all state authorities and for the adoption of new legislation, which is the main difference from the 2004 policy, which remains in force. The adoption of the new policy has taken almost five years, and it will now need to start being implemented.

“It does not end with the policy being finished and put in a drawer. We are already implementing certain steps, including an action plan for smart grids. The launch of the project has already been put in place. Some steps still remain. The world around us is changing. At the very least, we have a fixed point that addresses all the aspects that the previous policy did not address. It had no reason to; that is not its fault. It was created under different conditions,”
Šolc told iUHLI.cz.

The biggest issues covered by the policy include the debate on the future of nuclear power and on lifting limits on lignite mining (more in the article on coal in Czechia). With regard to nuclear power, the policy outlines possible scenarios that would financially enable the completion of nuclear units in Czechia. The option of financial guarantees for ČEZ is only listed third.

The Updated State Energy Policy considers several long-term scenarios for the development of the energy sector in Czechia to 2040. The most likely energy development scenario relies primarily on nuclear power, gas and oil. A major debate is expected, particularly over nuclear power, on the next tender for completing nuclear units (we wrote here about the status of nuclear unit construction in Europe). František Kotrba, spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Trade, also said that there is no need to wait for the issue of lifting coal mining limits to be resolved before approving the policy.

On Monday, it will be decided whether ASEK will be approved or postponed again.