ESG, Green Deal, carbon neutrality, renewable energy sources in the Czech Republic. These are the terms which have been forming the future of energy sector. From the perspective of the installed capacity in the Czech Republic, this article has presented an analysis of the current status of renewable resources with the focus on their individual types and geographical arrangement. The analysis could be carried out thanks to data provided by Energy Regulatory Office („ERO“). All of the owners of license to produce electricity with individual types of sources, issued by the ERO, have been included in the analysis and these are both legal and natural person.
The installed capacity progress between 2015-2021 in the Czech Republic
The graph down captures the development of shares of the individual source types on the total installed capacity in the Czech Republic. Pumped-storage hydroelectricity corresponds to small and big hydroelectric power stations and as such they have not been included into the analysis. Photovoltaic, hydroelectric and wind power plants are the main renewable resources. The category of other power plants ( The category of other power plants includes coal, gas and steam power plants.)
includes resources that are not counted in on a long-term basis. Despite their decline, these resources are still important concerning the installed capacity. Nuclear power stations make almost a quarter of the installed capacity. Photovoltaic power stations have the biggest capacity and are followed by hydroelectric and wind power plants having 18% of the total capacity. This increasing tendency of the shares of renewable resources on the total installed capacity has been recording for the last three years. One of the reasons is the departure of the coal-fired power plants. More than 60 % of the entities in the analysis were natural persons in terms of number of licenses, but their installed capacity accounts for only 4,5 % of the total installed capacity in the Czech Republic. Most of the installed capacity of renewable energy sources in the Czech Republic is operated by legal entities.
Photovoltaic power plants in the Czech Republic
Mainly due to generous subsidies and other government support, photovoltaic power plants in the Czech Republic experienced a huge boom in 2009 and 2010. The situation then stabilized in the following years, with a more significant increase in installed capacity in recent years, when renewables have again started to gain more attention in the EU.
Hydroelectric power plants in the Czech Republic
Referring to the installed output in the Czech Republic, the second biggest renewable resource is hydroelectric power plants. Small ones are those of which output doesn´t go beyond 10MWh. Following the realized analysis, big hydroelectric power plants make almost 70% of the installed output of the hydroelectric power plants in the Czech Republic The most of these power plants are in the South Bohemian Region and Hradec Králové Region, where two largest rivers Vltava and Labe rise.
Wind power plants in the Czech Republic
Wind power plants is the last renewable resource producing electricity in the Czech Republic which has been here analysed. Concerning the number of installed outputs, it is a less used renewable resource in the country in comparison with countries such as the Netherlands or Germany, where there are more favourable climatic conditions.
The most of wind power plants in the Czech Republic can be found in Olomouc Region, directly in Olomouc district. However, the largest wind power plants are located in the north-western part of the Czech Republic, specifically in the Chomutov district in the Ústí nad Labem region. There is also the biggest wind power station in Měděnec in the Ore Mountains, which is known as „The Farm Kryštofovy Hamry“. This complex consists of a total of 21 stand-alone wind turbines with a total capacity of 42 MWe.
Future of renewable resources in the Czech Republic
Goals for renewable resources have been increased in the EU, which has been also reflected in national energy and climate plans of the EU member states. The Czech government approved a plan in 2020, which anticipates an increase of renewable resource share of 22% of the total energy consumption. The share in the year 2020 was about 15,5%. There are also expectations of an increase of the installed output of the individual renewable resources.
Till 2030 the increase of the installed output should be like this:
- Hydroelectric power plants with 1 127 MWe (the increase of 1,5 % contrary to the present)
- Wind power plants with 970 MWe (the increase of 186 % contrary to the present)
- Photovoltaic power plants with 3 975 MWe (the increase of 92 % contrary to the present)
Despite the increase of the installed capacity of wind power stations, photovoltaic power stations will have the leading position among the renewable resources. The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic expects that expenses connected with performing the goals in the section „renewable resources“ can be approximately CZK 900 billion, including the support of the existing sources. Naturally, the switching to the green type of energy production means grants of the EU as well.
