Czech heating season was record-short and warm, with heat deliveries down by up to a tenth

This year’s heating season in Czechia was the shortest and warmest in the past 60 years. Czech district heating plants recorded their lowest heat deliveries during the season, up to a tenth below average. They attributed this mainly to the exceptionally warm weather. The Czech News Agency (ČTK) was told this today by the Czech District Heating Association.

„The average daily temperature from September 2023 to the end of April 2024 was 1.6 degrees higher than in the comparable period from 2022 to 2023. This is reflected in an average year-on-year decline in heat deliveries of between seven and nine percent,“ said Martin Hájek, director of the Czech District Heating Association.

He noted that, according to the forecast, this May will be warmer than last year, and the temperature difference over the entire heating season will most likely be around two degrees. The association therefore expects heat deliveries for heating to fall by around a tenth year on year overall.

„This time, all the savings are due to the warm weather. Based on our survey of district heating plants, we can say that people have got used to lower temperatures in their apartments, but the potential for further savings by lowering temperatures in buildings has probably been exhausted,“ Hájek noted.

According to the association’s statistics, the number of heating days in the season now ending fell just below 200 for the first time, with conditions for heating met nationwide on 199 days. Since 2010, the fewest heating days were recorded in the winter of 2017/2018, with 214 days. The longest heating season was in the winter of 2019/2020, with 255 days.

This year’s heating season was also exceptionally warm. According to the forecast through the end of May, the average daily temperature from the beginning of September to the end of May is expected to exceed eight degrees. Since 2010, the warmest heating season was 2019/2020, with an average daily temperature of 6.7 degrees, while the coldest, 2010/2011, had a temperature of 4.7 degrees.

Under a decree issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the heating season runs from the beginning of September to the end of May. Heating can be interrupted or reduced earlier if the average outdoor temperature rises above 13 degrees Celsius for two consecutive days and no colder weather is expected.