Czech government approves memorandum on building a heat pipeline from Dukovany to Brno

The government yesterday approved a memorandum on building a heat pipeline from the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant to Brno. Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL) said this at a press conference after a cabinet meeting. The government was the last signatory to join the memorandum, and its approval should mean the project can finally go ahead. Construction of the heat pipeline is expected to begin in 2027, with heat supplied to Brno from 2031. The investment is estimated at 19 billion crowns.

The heat pipeline will use waste heat from Dukovany in a similar way to how waste heat from the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant is used to heat České Budějovice, Jurečka said. According to him, the project will help significantly reduce gas consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and lower heating bills for Brno residents.

The 42-kilometre heat pipeline is intended to reduce Brno’s dependence on imported gas. The city, with a population of around 400,000, relies on gas for 80 percent of its needs. In the future, Dukovany is expected to supply half of Brno’s heat demand.

The cost of building the heat pipeline is expected to reach 19 billion crowns. The main investor will be Teplárny Brno, which aims to secure a grant of up to ten billion crowns from the European Union for the project. The company says the heat pipeline will enable cleaner heat production, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by up to 230.000 tonnes a year. ČEZ, the energy company, is expected to invest around three billion crowns of the total in building a heat-exchange station at the power plant.

In March, Teplárny Brno signed an implementation agreement for the heat pipeline with semi-state-owned ČEZ, which operates the Dukovany plant. Under the agreement, ČEZ is to supply heat to Brno for as long as the Dukovany plant is in operation. The pipeline is expected to be connected to new nuclear units in the future; the government decided this year to build them.

Plans to build a heat pipeline were considered in the 1980s. It was not economically viable because of the low gas prices at the time. The consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine changed those plans. The project is included in the spatial planning documents of the Vysočina Region, the South Moravian Region and Brno.