Plzeňská teplárenská, western Czechia's largest heat supplier, ends heating season

Plzeňská teplárenská, the largest heat supplier in western Czechia, suspended heating in the regional capital today due to warm weather. It is ready to resume deliveries if outdoor temperatures fall. The heating season officially ends on 31 May, according to a decree, company spokesperson Petra Siegerová told the Czech News Agency. According to the Czech District Heating Association, this year's heating season was the warmest in the past 60 years.

Plzeňská teplárenská, which produces heat and electricity from coal, biomass and waste, sold almost five percent less heat than in the previous season, when deliveries fell by seven percent year on year. „As this year's heating season is so far the warmest on record for the entire period of measurements at the Plzeň heating plant, savings in heat consumption have averaged around five percent,“ said company director Václav Pašek.

According to the spokesperson, the start of the 2023/2024 heating season was postponed to October for the first time. The company began heating on 6 October 2023.

Under a decree issued by the Ministry of Industry, the heating season ends on 31 May. However, if the average temperature rises above 13 degrees for three consecutive days and no drop is expected, heating plants may stop heat deliveries before that date.

Production director Jan Skřivánek said the heating plant is ready to start low-level heating at properties that approve summer heating, as needed depending on the weather, from 1 June until the end of August. The spokesperson added that statutory representatives of owners' associations or property owners can send their approval for summer heating by email or submit it through the customer portal.

According to the company's website, the average temperature measured in Plzeň last year was 11,7 degrees Celsius, the highest in the 30 years since the joint-stock company was established. The temperature rose by 0,6 degrees year on year and by 1,8 degrees Celsius compared with 2021.

The company is majority-owned by the City of Plzeň, with 35 percent owned by Daniel Křetínský's EPH group. The heating plant increased heat prices by 28,3 percent from 1 January this year. „The average price increase amounted to CZK 161,30/GJ (excluding VAT). Plzeňská teplárenská remains one of the cheapest heat suppliers in the Czech Republic,“ Siegerová said. The new price for residents is 818,72 CZK/GJ including 12-percent tax. The average household is paying 268 crowns more per month for heat this year than last year.

The heating plant supplies heat to 56.000 households, representing about 163.000 of Plzeň's total 180.000 residents. It also supplies businesses, schools, social care facilities and healthcare facilities.