Sev.en plans battery storage projects worth over CZK 1 billion in Chvaletice and Kladno, Czechia

Pavel Tykač’s Sev.en Česká energie group plans to build large-scale electricity storage facilities in Chvaletice in the Pardubice region and in Kladno. Their capacity will be several times greater than that of the domestic facilities already in operation, and comparable to that of Europe’s largest similar facilities. Costs will exceed CZK 1 billion, company spokesperson Eva Maříková said in a press release today.

The largest battery storage facility in the Czech Republic, with an output of 100 megawatts (MW) and a capacity of 200 megawatt-hours (MWh), will be built at the Chvaletice Power Plant. If there are no unexpected complications and the group obtains building permits for both projects, it expects to bring both facilities into operation next year.

An advantage in building the electricity storage facilities is the existing grid infrastructure at both sites and its good technical condition. The Kladno Heating Plant site also has a fully equipped substation. At the Chvaletice Power Plant, an interface for connecting the output to the grid will still need to be built, delaying the battery’s commissioning until the second half of next year.

"We want to operate both batteries partly as providers of balancing services and partly on the spot market. They will therefore help stabilize both immediate fluctuations in the grid and the typical solar generation profile. As for costs, the Chvaletice facility will require a somewhat higher investment, not only because of its more ambitious specifications but also because infrastructure needs to be added. In total, we are talking about more than CZK 1 billion," said Pavel Farkač, head of transformation projects at Sev.en Česká energie.

The Chvaletice Power Plant is the country’s newest lignite-fired power plant and has been fully operational since 1979. Its installed capacity is 820 megawatts, and it also supplies a small amount of heat to Trnávka and Chvaletice. Severní energetická (Sev.en) bought the plant from ČEZ in 2013 for CZK 4.12 billion. The plant made a profit of more than CZK 1 billion in 2022, but posted a loss of CZK 492 million in 2023. Results for last year are not yet known.

The Kladno Heating Plant is one of the Czech Republic’s major combined heat and power facilities. The phase-out of coal at its units, which have a capacity of 524 MWe and can co-fire biomass, will mean either a major conversion or the end of operations in the future. The coal-fired units are currently supplemented by two flexible gas turbines which, thanks to a diesel generator, can start up fully autonomously after a power outage, even without voltage supplied by a hydroelectric power plant.