CEZ to import gas from Algeria, equal to 2% of Czech annual consumption

The partly state-owned energy company CEZ has signed a contract for gas supplies from Algeria. It will take around 2% of annual gas consumption in the Czech Republic from the Algerian company Sonatrach, equivalent to the consumption of approximately 100,000 households. Deliveries began in October, and the gas will flow to Europe through an undersea pipeline. The CEZ Group informed the Czech News Agency (CTK) today. It will purchase the gas on its own account; the company did not disclose the financial terms.

CEZ had been negotiating gas supplies from Algeria for two years and has now concluded the contract with the state’s assistance. Gas flows to the Czech Republic from Algeria via Tunisia, then through an undersea pipeline to Italy and on to the Czech Republic.

„We have taken another step towards strengthening our energy security. In addition to gas supplies from German suppliers, Norway and our LNG terminal in Eemshaven, we will now also import gas from fields in North Africa. The negotiations with Algerian state-owned company Sonatrach were constructive and were brought to a successful conclusion,“ said CEZ CEO Daniel Beneš.

According to the company, the contract helps broaden the geographical range of potential suppliers and provides another route for gas supplies to the country if there is a shortage on the domestic market.

„Cooperation with reliable partners and maximum diversification of gas supplies are essential for the Czech Republic’s energy security. The more trading routes we have for this essential commodity, the less we will be affected by any potential supply shortages elsewhere. Our goal remains to connect Czech traders with alternative suppliers. Algeria is one such partner,“ said Minister of Industry and Trade Lukáš Vlček (STAN).

Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský described the agreement as one of the successes of Czech diplomacy.

CEZ currently takes gas from several foreign sources. Two years ago, the Czech Republic secured capacity for three billion cubic metres of gas per year at the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Eemshaven. During its first two years of operation, the terminal received 43 vessels carrying gas destined for the Czech Republic, transporting 3.86 billion cubic metres of gas. At the end of last year, CEZ secured additional LNG capacity of two billion cubic metres per year for 15 years, with an option to extend the term to 25 years, at a newly built onshore terminal in Stade, Germany, at the mouth of the Elbe. Construction of the terminal began this spring, and it is scheduled to enter operation in the second half of 2027.

Czech consumers used 6.76 billion cubic metres of gas over the whole year, 10.4% less year on year. The vast majority of gas supplied to the Czech Republic—92%, specifically—came across the border from Germany last year. Gas from Norway and liquefied gas from the Netherlands flow through Germany. The remaining 8% was imported from Slovakia, where, according to many experts, it comes mainly from Russia.