Preparations for construction of the Czech heat pipeline from Dukovany to Brno to be completed in 2027

Representatives of ČEZ and Teplárny Brno today signed an implementation agreement for a heat pipeline from the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant to Brno. It will enable the selection of a contractor to prepare the project documentation. Preparations for construction are due to be completed in spring 2027. The companies also signed an agreement on a future contract for heat supplies today. According to Brno Mayor Markéta Vaňková (ODS), the price of heat from the pipeline should be lower than or comparable to that from other sources. Residents of Brno could start using heat from the pipeline in the 2030/2031 heating season.

Heat currently costs about 1200 crowns per gigajoule (GJ), including VAT. „Based on the current calculations we have, it is realistic that the price could fall to around 1000 crowns in 2030, which means it should be lower. In any case, we can say with almost certainty that in 2030 the price should be stable and lower than any price from other sources,“ Vaňková said.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS), who visited the Dukovany power plant today, sees the heat pipeline as an example of an important and useful project linked to the development of nuclear energy. „The heat pipeline will make use of energy from the existing units. In the future, it is also expected to be connected to the new units that will be built here,” Fiala said.

ČEZ has committed to supplying heat to Brno for at least 30 years and for as long as there is a nuclear power plant in Dukovany. This means the commitment will last even longer once the new source is completed. The number of units in operation at the plant will not be decisive, ČEZ CEO Daniel Beneš told ČTK. According to him, the plant is expected to supply 2000 TJ of heat to Brno annually. „And it should work even if there is only one unit,“ Beneš said.

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

The estimated construction cost is 19 billion crowns, of which two billion will be invested by ČEZ directly at the Dukovany power plant site. According to Beneš, a construction contractor is expected to be selected around the second quarter of 2027.

Construction of a heat pipeline was considered in the 1980s. Due to the low gas prices at the time, it was not economically viable. The consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine changed the plans. The project is included in the planning documents of the Vysočina Region, the South Moravian Region and Brno. The pipeline is to run through Oslavany, with the heat transfer station in Bosonohy.

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