Wind energy in the Czech Republic

General

The National Energy Strategy adopted by the Czech Parliament in 2004 defines long-term energy goals with fundamental priorities on security of supply and sustainable development.

Targets of the Czech energy policy, defined in the National Energy Strategy, concerning renewable energy sources (RES) are to increase: (a) RES share in the primary energy balance to 15.7 % by 2030, (b) RES share in electricity production to 16.8 % by 2030.

A RES scheme was introduced in 2005 by the Act on the Promotion of Electricity Produced from Renewable Energy Sources No.180/2005. RES electricity is promoted by a guaranteed feed-in tariff and premium ("green bonus") paid on top of the regular electricity price achieved at the market. The guaranted feed-in tariff and green bonus apply to all technologies used to generate renewable electricity, except for the very large scale wind power (>20 MW), RES electricity generated outside the Czech Republic and since 2011 for on ground PV systems. In general the tariff is granted for 20 years.

RES are also promoted by the National Programme for the promotion of Energy saving and the Use of Renewable Energy Sources. One of the subprograms, the Efekt, is focused on the renewable electricity generation. The operational framework for the Efekt is approved on a yearly basis. In 2011, for example, the Efekt promotes only small hydro-power generation with a capacity of up to 10 MW.

The ECO-ENERGY programme is a part of the Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovations and gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to apply for investment grants or low-interest loans for RES projects. This programme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

Another programme is Operational Programme Environment 2007-2013- Axis 3 "Sustainable Use of Energy Sources", which provides investment grants from the EU Cohesion Fund. The programme offers investment subsidies for the realization of renewable energy and energy saving projects mainly for the public and the municipality sector.

Electricity generated from renewable energy sources is a subject to an exemption from the tax on income from renewable electricity, too.

Renewable energy projections according to the National Renewable Energy Action Plan for the Czech Republic

Mandatory targets set by the Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (RES) indicate 13% share of RES in the gross consumption of final energy and at least 10% share of renewable energy in final consumption of energy in transport by 2020.

The RES target according to the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) of the Czech Republic is to achieve 13.5% RES share of the final energy consumption (4,382 ktoe) in 2020. The contribution of wind energy according to the NREAP projection is foreseen to be 6,678 TJ or 3.6% of all RES in 2020.

Renewable electricity: wind

1) Electricity produced from wind is supported by a guaranteed feed-in tariff and premium ("green bonus") paid on top of the regular electricity price achieved at the market.

The Energy Regulatory Office’s Price Decision No. 7/2011 of 23 November 2011 (caption 1.7) is setting new values for the feed-in tariff and green bonus for electricity from PV. The feed-in tariff and green bonus depend on the date of commissioning. The feed-in tariff and green bonus regulation apply to all technologies used in the generation of renewable electricity, except for very large scale wind power (>20 MW) and for electricity generated outside the Czech Republic. The guaranteed feed-in tariff and the green bonus for electricity for wind power plants are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Feed-in tariff and green bonus for electricity for wind power plants 

Income of wind plants is exempt from income tax.

Feed-in tariffs and green bonuses are derived with the assumption that there is no other direct support (e.g. in the form of investment subsidy), however wind power plants can be as well supported by investment subsidies.

2) Electricity production from wind is supported under Operational Programme Environment - Axis 3 "Sustainable Use of Energy Sources". The programme offers investment subsidies for construction and reconstruction of wind power plans. The subsidy must not exceed 20% of the total project costs. The maximum grant per electricity power plants may reach 50 million CZK. The maximum grant per cogeneration plants using solid biomass may reach 100 million CZK.

There are two separate calls: one is for large projects (open till 30^th of June 2011), the second is for individual projects (open from 1^st of March 2011 till 30^th of April 2011). Only the public and the municipality sector are eligible for investments support.

3) The ECO-ENERGY programme is part of the Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovations (2007-2013)- PRIORITY AXIS 3 – “EFFECTIVE ENERGY”. Under this programme entrepreneurs (small, medium-sized, large enterprises) can apply for investment grants or low-interest loans for RES projects. The minimum subsidy is 500,000 CZK. The maximum subsidy is a certain percentage of the eligible costs. The percentage differs according to region and must not exceed 100 million CZK. In general small enterprises are entitled to 50%, medium-sized enterprises to 40% and large enterprises to 30% of the eligible costs. Enterprises in Regions of Strední Morava, Severozápad, Strední Cechy, Moravskoslezsko, Severovýchod, Jihovýchod are entitled to additional 10 percentage point higher support than usual. In general wind power plants are eligible to the support under this programme; however all depends on the conditions set out by a given call for applications. At the moment, all calls under Operational Programme "Enterprise and Innovations – ECO-ENERGY Programme" are closed.

Future programme changes expected

A renewed legislation on renewable energy is expected in near future.

Sources

-        No. 180/2005 Coll., ACT of 31 March 2005 on the promotion of electricity production from renewable energy sources and amending certain acts
(http://onlinepact.org/fileadmin/user_upload/PACT/Laws/Czech_law180-2005_English.doc)

-        National programme for the energy management and the use of renewable sources of energy for 2006 – 2009 (http://www.mpo.cz/dokument12937.html)

-        Fulfilment of the indicative target of electricity production from renewable sources (http://www.mpo.cz/en/energy-and-raw-materials/renewables/)

-        Assessment of the State Programme in Support of Energy Savings and the Usage of Renewable Energy Sources, the Efekt 2008 Programme (http://www.mpo.cz/dokument63164.html)

-        National Renewable Energy Action Plan of the Czech Republic

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/transparency_platform/doc/national_renewable_energy_action_plan_czechrepublic_en.pdf

-        Green Saving Programme

http://www.zelenausporam.cz/sekce/582/about-the-green-savings-programme/

-        Operational Programme Environment

http://www.opzp.cz/soubor-ke-stazeni/13/4189-id_2008_11_20_final_en.pdf

-        ECO-ENERGY programme

http://download.mpo.cz/get/30833/43324/519735/priloha013.pdf

Interactive EurObserv’ER Database

http://www.eurobserv-er.org

Last update: March 2012

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