Prague in Czechia generates less solar electricity than Brno. See where the plants are

Just under 1,300 photovoltaic power plants are located in the territory of the Czech capital, Prague, ranging from the smallest rooftop installations to large sources on the city outskirts. Their total capacity reaches 24.5 megawatts, a third less than in Brno.

According to records from the Energy Regulatory Office, 1,283 facilities in Prague generate electricity from the sun under a licence. In Brno, there are 558 photovoltaic power plants with a capacity of 37.4 megawatts.

“Looking at the distribution of Prague’s 1,283 entities by type, we find that 920 facilities are managed by self-employed individuals and 362 by legal entities,” says Martin Dvořák, a data analyst at Brno City Hall. For Ekonews, he prepared a graphical overview of photovoltaics in Prague based on Energy Regulatory Office data.

“However, legal entities generate 18.4 MWe, while individuals generate only 6.04 MWe. The largest facility managed by an individual has a capacity of 40 kilowatts,” Dvořák adds on the situation in Prague.

More rooftop photovoltaics to be added

Prague’s largest power plants are two Enfinity facilities in Horní Počernice, which together have 5.5 megawatts of installed capacity. The third-largest is Tecom in Kbely, with a capacity of 0.56 MWe. The difference between Prague and Brno is affected by the fact that Brno’s plant at the former Tuřany airport is almost four times larger than these three sources combined.

“The limited availability of open land probably plays a role in comparing photovoltaic capacity in Prague and Brno. However, the trend will now start to even out, as greater emphasis is placed on installations on buildings, which in turn brings issues of roof load-bearing capacity and lightning protection,” says Jaroslav Klusák, head of the Prague Renewable Energy Community.

Source: ERO

Prague’s largest photovoltaic plant belongs to the Energy 21 group, which, according to 2021 Commercial Register data, operates 31 power plants in Czechia with a capacity of more than 60 megawatts, making it one of the country’s largest players in the solar business. The Horní Počernice plant has been operating since 2010 and, according to the Commercial Register, has recorded revenue of CZK 45 million to CZK 47 million and profits of between CZK 13 million and CZK 17 million in recent years.

In Brno, the aforementioned Tuřany plant dominates, as the fourth-largest photovoltaic source in Czechia. However, the overall figures for photovoltaic capacity in Prague and Brno are in fact slightly higher. Since 2016, an amendment to the Energy Act has allowed electricity generation facilities connected to the grid with installed capacity of up to ten kilowatts to operate without a licence. Martin Dvořák estimates that five to ten megawatts of total installed capacity have not made it into the statistics.

Republished from the online portal EkoNews.cz, a website covering business and sustainability.