Construction of heating pipeline to Kadaň begins near Prunéřov for CZK 430m
Workers have begun building a nearly six-kilometre heating pipeline from Prunéřov in the Chomutov region to Kadaň. Once completed, it will change the district heating supply for the town of around 18.000 residents. Until now, they have received heat generated from coal at the Tušimice power plant. Prunéřov will supply heat from biomass and gas. Construction costs amount to CZK 430 million, said Libor Štěpán, director of ČEZ Teplárenská.
Kadaň has received coal-based heat from nearby Tušimice for 50 years.
"Coal is being phased out, so we agreed to change the supply. It will be a more environmentally friendly source while retaining district heating for residents," Mayor Jan Losenický (ODS) said. The town and ČEZ signed a 15-year supply contract.
The heating pipeline will be completed by the end of next year. One of the access roads to Kadaň will be closed while the pipes are being laid.
"Work on this section will begin in summer. It is one of four access routes into the town. We are seeking to divert freight traffic, with lorries using the D7 and I/13 roads," Losenický said. The traffic restrictions will last until autumn.
The new connection will affect heat prices. "The contract includes a control mechanism ensuring that price increases will not be dramatic," Losenický said. According to him, the price of district heating will always be lower than heating from local sources. Prunéřov also supplies heat to the towns of Jirkov and Klášterec nad Ohří.
The gas boiler plant in Prunéřov currently serves as an alternative source to the coal-fired unit. It will initially supply customers with heat only in summer, and later all year round. Prunéřov will also have a biomass boiler and further gas boiler plants. These sources are expected to supply customers in the 2028/2029 heating season, ahead of the announced end of coal generation in 2030. Prunéřov was home to two lignite power plants, with operations at Prunéřov I ending in June 2020. Total investment in modernising district heating sources in Prunéřov and Tušimice in the Chomutov region exceeds CZK six billion.
