Conference on Czechia's energy future – part 1

On Wednesday, 10 March, the first part of the Conference on Czechia's Energy Future took place. The conference was organised by the non-profit organisation Institut Equilibrium. Its main topic was the Czech Republic's transition to low-emission energy sources. The debate covered the future of Czech district heating, energy storage and the development of renewable energy sources. Guests included Jaroslav Míl, the government's commissioner for nuclear energy; René Neděla, deputy minister at the Ministry of Industry and Trade; Vladimír Wagner of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Jan Fousek of AKU-BAT; Martin Hájek of the Czech District Heating Association; and Petr Kalaš of the Czech Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Nuclear energy

Jaroslav Míl spoke about energy security. He said that the Czech Republic's installed capacity is expected to decline by 10 GW by 2040 (the country's installed capacity stood at 21,2 GW as of 31 December 2020). In his view, the Czech Republic would thus become capacity-deficient and, without a new baseload source, would be unable to ensure grid stability even with electricity imports, despite investment of 700 billion Kč in energy savings, renewable energy development and increased gas imports, citing unspecified studies. Given the Czech Republic's natural conditions, he believes there is no alternative to constructing a new nuclear unit. According to Míl, 100% state financing of the project would allow the state to share in the plant's revenues and reduce the overall financial costs of construction.

District heating

René Neděla then spoke, mainly about district heating, which has been in crisis for some time due to emissions allowance prices. Like the Czech Energy Regulatory Office (ERÚ), he highlighted the importance of preserving district heating systems (STZE). Future heat supplies should be covered by at least 60% high-efficiency combined heat and power generation (CHP), supplemented by heat supplies from local domestic sources (biomass, waste) and, additionally, natural gas. Producers can draw funding for decarbonisation from the Modernisation Fund, the Just Transition Fund and other sources.

However, it should be noted that for many district heating plants, approval of the amendment to the Act on Supported Energy Sources is crucial.

Martin Hájek pointed to the importance of conventional energy sources and to the mistakes made by the Czech Republic's neighbour, Germany. Germany held an auction for the closure of hard coal-fired power plants, in which 11 plants were successful. However, transmission system operators subsequently found three of them to be necessary for system operation. Petr Kalaš presented greenhouse gas emissions from a global perspective, with the EU accounting for 9%. According to the presentation, the Czech Republic's share of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions is 3,3%.

Low-emission sources

Vladimír Wagner first summarised low-emission sources and then outlined their potential in the Czech Republic. In terms of hydropower use, the potential has already largely been exploited. Suitable locations for wind power plants are often in environmentally valuable areas and face opposition from residents. He also presented current pressurised water nuclear reactors.

Jan Fousek highlighted the importance of storage in connection with renewable energy sources (RES) and power sector decarbonisation. He welcomed companies' interest in storage, including hydrogen storage, as expressed in the Modernisation Fund's pre-registration call, where some projects included storage (which is also eligible for subsidies, with its size limited according to installed RES capacity). In his view, Modernisation Fund subsidies for the construction of power plants above 1 MW will primarily be available to major energy companies such as ČEZ, EPH, Severní energetická and others that are part of the EU ETS. He also mentioned the complexity of incorporating storage into the Energy Act.