South Moravia in Czechia has wind power potential, but no wind farms, experts say

The South Moravian Region, along with the Moravian-Silesian Region and the Vysočina Region, has the highest potential for harnessing wind energy among Czech regions, yet no new wind farm has been built in the region since 2009. The Chamber of Renewable Energy Sources and the Czech Wind Energy Association highlighted this in a press release.

According to industry associations, the Liberec Region makes the best use of its potential for wind farm construction relative to its area, with wind farms on 29 percent of suitable sites. It is followed by the Karlovy Vary Region with 19 percent and the Ústí nad Labem Region with 13 percent of suitable sites used for wind farms.

There are seven wind turbines at three sites in the Znojmo area in South Moravia. Five turbines have been operating in Břežany since 2005, while one turbine each has stood in Bantice and Tulešice since 2008 and 2009, respectively. The total capacity of the seven turbines is 8.4 megawatts, and together they generated almost 14 million kilowatt-hours of electricity last year. The average household in Czechia consumes approximately 2000 to 3000 kWh per year.

According to an analysis by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, up to 200 wind turbines could be built in South Moravia, bringing installed capacity to 1136 megawatts. The wind turbines could then cover the annual consumption of approximately one million average households.

„The South Moravian Region is among those with the best conditions for harnessing wind energy, but its considerable wind potential remains largely untapped. This is partly due to restrictions imposed by the military or for bird conservation, which rule out a large share of otherwise suitable areas for wind energy. Nevertheless, many suitable sites for wind farms remain here,“ said Štěpán Chalupa, chairman of the Chamber of Renewable Energy Sources.

According to the Czech Wind Energy Association, wind farms could eventually cover around a third of annual electricity consumption in Czechia, compared with about one percent today.