Reconstruction of the heating plant in Uherské Hradiště-Mařatice, Czechia, receives positive EIA opinion

Uherské Hradiště, 21 February (ČTK) – The planned reconstruction of the heating plant in Uherské Hradiště-Mařatice has received a positive EIA opinion from the regional authority, assessing the project’s impact on the environment. Simona Vlková, commercial and marketing manager at CTZ, which operates the facility, told ČTK today. The document has been available since today on the official notice board of the Zlín Regional Authority. After the modernisation, the plant will burn natural gas and municipal waste instead of coal dust.

The regional authority’s EIA process focused specifically on the construction of a waste-to-energy facility (WTE), which is part of the planned conversion of the heating plant. “The modernisation is expected to be completed in 2028, and the WTE facility, with an annual capacity of 15.000 tonnes of waste, will produce half of the heat and hot water for customers in Uherské Hradiště,” CTZ representatives said in a press release. Uherské Hradiště has a population of approximately 25.000.

Company managing director Kamil Ondra considers the positive EIA opinion the first major milestone in preparations for building the WTE facility. He also said it confirms that the facility’s impact on the environment in Uherské Hradiště will be negligible. “Over the past two years, we have held numerous discussions about the potential environmental impact of the WTE facility, and I am pleased that our conclusions about its minimal impact have also been confirmed by an independent expert authorised by the state, and that we have received the final opinion from the regional authority,” Ondra said.

The opinion contains 17 conditions that CTZ must meet when modernising the heating plant. Eight concern preparations for building the WTE facility, six its construction and three its operation. “During project preparation, these conditions are aimed at preventing and eliminating potential environmental impacts; during construction, they focus on minimising dust, noise and pollution of connecting roads; and for the WTE facility’s operation, they require monitoring measurements of noise and emissions, including making the results continuously available to the public,” Ondra said.

A 2020 petition opposing waste incineration at the heating plant received 2727 valid signatures. Its signatories favoured burning natural gas. They criticised the planned WTE facility as being oversized and also expressed concerns about increased emissions.

According to the modernisation schedule, the Mařatice heating plant is due to stop burning coal dust this year and switch to gas instead. CTZ plans to commission the waste-to-energy facility in 2028, two years before a ban on landfilling municipal waste takes effect. In 2021, Uherské Hradiště councillors approved switching the heating plant’s fuel to gas and waste, followed by the CTZ general meeting.