Czech Republic seeks to develop energy communities. Grant call conditions published

The Ministry of the Environment recently published the conditions for a grant call to support the establishment of energy communities. Funding will be provided through the National Recovery Plan. Applications open on 1 December, when at least 40 proposals will be selected for support in a two-stage competitive call. The call has a total allocation of CZK 98 million, while the largest grant can reach CZK 3 million, the Ministry of the Environment reports on its website. 

According to Environment Minister Petr Hladík, community energy represents a future based on renewable sources owned not by large companies, but by groups of citizens or associations of municipalities. He also stressed that renewable generation needs to increase to five times its current level by 2030, and that establishing energy communities will help achieve this.

This call is aimed at supporting the establishment of energy communities (ECs), particularly through the preparation of information materials, specialist training for coordinators and other related activities necessary to create an energy community.  Overall, at least 40 projects of varying scale and complexity will be supported. The grant may provide financial assistance of up to 90% for entities that are not VAT payers; for VAT payers, support may reach a maximum of 70%.

Financial support will be divided into the following four categories according to the complexity of establishing energy communities:

Category 1: Support of up to CZK 600,000 for ECs limited to family and apartment buildings.Category 2: Support of up to CZK 1,500,000 for ECs with members from the same sector (for example, several buildings belonging to a public entity, such as municipalities or foundations).Category 3: Support of up to CZK 3,000,000 for ECs with different members – a combination of the public, business and civic sectors and households.Category 3+: Support of up to CZK 3,000,000 for ECs with different members operating in the territory of at least three neighbouring municipalities with extended powers.

Petr Valdman, director of the Czech State Environmental Fund, further explained how the support will be calculated. If an energy community includes two apartment buildings with a total of 40 metering points and 10 family houses in Category 1, total support will amount to CZK 380,000 (40x5,000 + 2x40,000 + 10x10,000). In the case of a Category 3 energy community project involving three different uses of buildings (for example, a school, wastewater treatment plant and apartment building) and two types of applicants linked to a metering point (for example, a municipality and a homeowners' association), total support will amount to CZK 1,700,000 (3x300,000 + 2x400,000).

The first round for submitting proposals will run from 10:00 on 1 December 2023 to 31 January 2024. All applications received will then be assessed, after which the second round, under the responsibility of the Czech State Environmental Fund, will open.

Projects will be assessed on the basis of several criteria, such as the scale or complexity of the proposal.  The minimum threshold for progressing will be 30 points. Further information is published on the websites of the ministry and the State Environmental Fund.

The support comes at a time when considerable attention is being paid to an amendment to the Energy Act, which should enable more efficient energy sharing and support the decentralisation of generation sources.