Brussels may reject Czech acceleration zones. Three gigawatts fit into renewable energy areas only on paper

In the coming months, the European Commission will assess whether Czechia has properly defined and designed its acceleration areas. Yet the first example, in the Olomouc region, already shows that the zones are more likely to restrict wind power projects than facilitate them. And that could be a problem.

ČEZ Renewables planned to build six 240-metre wind turbines near the municipality of Norberčany in the Olomouc region. The project is now undergoing an environmental impact assessment (EIA), but the company will have to reconsider it.

The planned project is located within the second-largest acceleration area for wind energy, where the Spatial Development Plan limits the height of wind turbines to 185 metres. The reason is said to be protection of the landscape character, specifically the “unique image of the Bruntál volcanoes”, according to the justification for the Norberčany acceleration zone.

“We will of course respect any restrictions on project parameters resulting from inclusion in an acceleration zone,” says Martin Schreier, spokesperson for the ČEZ Group. According to Ekonews information, five of the six planned wind turbines will have to comply with the height limit. One location lies outside the acceleration area. In any case, the conditions in the zone will adversely affect the economics of the entire project.

“An investor can build a 185-metre wind turbine. But then the state cannot expect the price of electricity produced by it to fall below the current level of just under three crowns per kilowatt-hour,” warns Martin Sedlák, programme director of the Modern Energy Association. “Bird and bat deterrents will also increase the initial investment by millions of crowns,” he adds. He is referring to the fact that, in addition to height limits, the zones are subject to a blanket requirement to install bird and bat deterrents or detection systems.

Will billions from Brussels be lost?

When Industry and Trade Minister Karel Havlíček announced two weeks ago that the government had approved the acceleration zones, he stressed that this was a minimalist option, a necessary evil that had to be approved because of billions from Brussels. Now the deputy prime minister and his officials face a more difficult task: he will have to explain to the European Commission that he has done everything possible for the acceleration areas. The governing coalition includes the Motorists for Themselves party, which has made boycotting wind power development one of its key issues.

Acceleration areas are one of the milestones of the National Recovery Plan, a package of reforms and investments to which Czechia committed in 2021 after the pandemic. The delineation of the zones is tied to ten billion crowns in subsidies expected from the European Union. And it was precisely because of this amount that the acceleration areas were ultimately approved – a point repeatedly confirmed not only by Havlíček but also by Filip Turek, an MP for the Motorists for Themselves movement.

However, it is not certain that Brussels will regard the minimalist version of the zones, with a range of restrictions that complicate projects rather than facilitate them, as the desired impetus for renewable energy development. European Commission representatives have so far declined to comment more specifically on the issue.

“Once the payment request is submitted, the Commission will assess this target in accordance with the RRF Regulation (the Recovery and Resilience Facility is the fund from which the money is drawn, editor’s note) and the Council Implementing Decision,” the European Commission Representation in Czechia told Ekonews in response to a query.

“Neither the European Commission nor the Czech Republic has an interest in escalating the situation over the acceleration zones to the point where payments from the National Recovery Plan are halted. That is the last resort, which the Commission will not want to use without cause. If the Commission has reservations, it can communicate them to the Czech side,” comments Filip Křenek, a research fellow at the Europeum Institute.

“On the other hand, the Commission looks at actual impacts. Not just whether acceleration zones are created ‘on paper’, but whether, as defined, they can fulfil their declared purpose. If the conditions for building renewable energy sources within acceleration zones were in fact more complicated than outside them, that would of course be a compelling reason to halt payments. Such zones clearly do not meet the conditions of the National Recovery Plan, namely that renewable energy installations in acceleration zones should be easier and faster,” Křenek explains.

Scraping through by the narrowest margin

Czechia committed to designate acceleration areas with potential for at least three gigawatts of installed capacity. A simulation by the Hnutí Duha environmental organisation shows that the designated areas meet this commitment with only a minimal margin.

The analysis took into account height limits, wind potential and the noise factor. Acceleration zones are to be at least half a kilometre from built-up areas, but in practice wind turbines will not stand so close to the first dwelling, precisely because of noise limits. “A wind farm with multiple turbines has no realistic chance of meeting the applicable noise limit at a distance of 500 metres from built-up areas,” Rovenský warns.

“For wind acceleration areas, our simulation produced a maximum installed capacity potential of 1.798 gigawatts. According to official Ministry of the Environment data, areas for photovoltaics have potential of 1.254 gigawatts. That makes 3.052 gigawatts in total – just barely above the three gigawatts promised to the Commission,” Rovenský says.

“In reality, however, this target is utterly unattainable. It is the maximum possible potential for filling the areas – in other words, 100% of the areas would have to contain 100% of what can legally and technically fit there. That cannot be achieved in the real world,” the analyst warns.

“The question is whether the declared capacity can fit into just under 300 square kilometres. The government will have to defend this before the European Commission,” adds Sedlák of the Modern Energy Association.

Fulfilment cannot allegedly be predicted

The Ministry of Industry and Trade, which will submit the request for the final payment from the National Recovery Plan, is confident of success. “Communication with the European Commission on this issue has been ongoing for some time. We will now provide the Commission with the approved document, including supporting arguments and materials, and it will assess them. We are conducting a continuous dialogue with the European Commission on this matter and discussing everything with our partners,” says ministry spokesperson Tadeáš Provazník.

“We do not believe that the set height limits would disqualify the acceleration areas concerned as a whole. Technologies are available on the market that can be deployed even in zones defined in this way, and technologies are improving year by year. At the same time, it must be stressed that acceleration areas do not mean automatic permission to build solar or wind projects. Whether construction will take place within the designated acceleration areas and whether the set minimum potential will be met cannot be predicted at this point, and above all, this is not a condition for drawing funds from the National Recovery Plan,” Provazník claims.

It should be noted that the European Commission has previously accepted Czechia’s incomplete fulfilment of a milestone. Again, this was related to acceleration areas. A milestone entitled “Methodology for designating areas for accelerated deployment of renewable energy sources” was part of the third payment request, which the Commission approved in autumn 2024. Under it, Czechia was to pass a law on acceleration zones (which it did) and provide public information about this instrument.

Specifically, the milestone states: “The methodology shall be established in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, including communication with the public and transparent dialogue. The Ministry of the Environment provides assistance to regions and municipalities and ensures public-awareness communication activities concerning areas for the accelerated deployment of renewable energy sources.”

Cancelled information campaign was not a problem

However, communication around the acceleration areas has been flooded with noise and disinformation over the past year. An information campaign intended to debunk myths about wind turbines was halted at the start of this year after the Motorists for Themselves party took over the Ministry of the Environment.

After the proposed acceleration areas were published in spring, massive opposition arose against them. Municipalities near which the zones were to be located complained that no one had discussed the plan with them in advance. Thousands of comments on the proposal were submitted to the Ministry for Regional Development. A large-scale anti-wind campaign was launched. Public meetings were held across the country, where, alongside disinformation about the health impacts of wind turbines, people were given specific instructions on how to oppose wind projects and acceleration zones.

Nevertheless, the European Commission confirmed to Ekonews that it sees no problem in this, because the information activities specified in the milestone were to relate to activities carried out during preparation of the methodology. According to the Commission, this took place. While it provided no specific position, editorial information indicates that it was enough for the Commission that the Ministry of the Environment had organised a meeting with regional representatives and established an expanded interministerial working group.

The Ministry of the Environment comments as follows: “Although a separate communication campaign was not carried out, public information was provided through other instruments,” says ministry deputy spokesperson Kateřina Pacíková. “As part of preparing the acceleration areas, the Ministry of the Environment continuously published information about their purpose, method of designation, preparation process and related documentation on its website, in the section dedicated to acceleration areas.”

“In accordance with the Building Act, a public consultation process was also ensured for the draft Amendment No. 2 to the Spatial Development Plan. As part of this, the issue of acceleration areas was professionally presented to the public, all questions raised during the consultation were answered, and everyone subsequently had the opportunity to submit comments,” Pacíková adds.