Czech ČEZ launches tender for new boiler plants at heating plants in Hodonín, Trutnov and Ledvice

Energy company ČEZ has begun seeking suppliers of gas- and biomass-fired boiler plants or cogeneration units for heating plants in Trutnov, Ledvice and Hodonín. It plans to convert the existing coal-fired heating plants into new facilities. ČEZ announced this today in a press release. The company has previously said it wants to end coal burning in district heating by 2030; it is currently converting heating plants in Mělník, Dětmarovice, Prunéřov and Ústí nad Labem.

"We are steadily continuing the modernisation and construction of low-emission heat sources at our sites. We can therefore launch tenders for suppliers of new biomass- and gas-fired boiler plants, supplemented by other technologies according to the specific needs of each site," said Libor Štěpán, CEO of ČEZ Teplárenská.

In the event of a successful tender, the company plans to conclude contracts with the winning suppliers this year and next year. "Overall, we want to stop using coal in district heating by 2030," Šěpán added.

The planned conversions are part of the transformation of the Czech energy sector, which envisages the gradual phase-out of coal-fired sources. In recent years, ČEZ Teplárenská has therefore begun conversions in Dětmarovice in northern Moravia and at the northern Bohemian sites of Prunéřov and Ústí nad Labem. Some of the new facilities are now in operation, and the new heating plant in Dětmarovice, which supplies heat to Orlová and Bohumín, will be the first to be completed in full this year. The gradual conversion of the generation base is also continuing in Mělník.

Through the district heating system, ČEZ supplies heat and hot water to 1.7 million people in the Czech Republic. It is investing around CZK 80 billion in total in modernising heating facilities.

Other operators are also gradually converting coal-fired heating plants into new facilities. For example, billionaire Daniel Křetínský's Energetický průmyslový holding (EPH) is converting heating plants in Opatovice and Komořany, while Veolia Energie ČR is transforming heating plants in Ostrava and other cities. Other district heating operators in Czechia are also gradually switching to gas.