EU Tracker – Local heating and cooling plans in the Czech Republic
Summary
What is the status of the transposition of Art 25.6(EDD) and its implementation ?
The Czech Republic is not well prepared to implementing article 25.6 of the Energy Efficiency Directive Article 23, which will require some regulatory change and the development of a comprehensive support framework.
Czech regions, the capital city of Prague, and statutory cities must submit Territorial Energy Concepts which incorporate heating and cooling aspects. Czech local authorities lack access to a proper support framework for energy planning, and have limited and constrained financial, technical and staffing resources to undertake strategic and integrated energy or heat planning. Current national support programs, should, to limit the burden for local authorities, be redesigned for these purposes and address the decarbonisation of the built environment holistically rather than being merely restricted to specific projects (such as district heating systems or energy saving measures).
Detailed assessment
The legal framework and the obligations
An obligation to draft territorial energy concepts for regions and larger municipalities with some elements of heat planning
Overview of the legal frameworks per governance level
| National | The Energy Act (No. 458/2000 Coll), adopted in 2000 and amended in 2023, is the main legal framework for heating and cooling policies in the Czech Republic. It regulates the production, distribution, transmission, storage, trade and consumption of energy. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) is the authority with overall cross-sectoral responsibilities, coordinating the national policies and plans for increasing the share of RES, the energy efficiency and the security of the heating and cooling sector. The Act on Supported Energy Sources (ASES), adopted in 2012, regulates the guarantees of origin for renewable sources, and supports the market competitiveness of renewable energies for achieving the national targets while minimising the economic impacts on energy prices”. The Act on Energy Management (No. 406/2000 Coll.), adopted in 2000 and amended several times, regulates energy efficiency measures, including the efficiency of heating and cooling systems. It sets standards and requirements for energy consumption in buildings and for energy-using appliances. It defines the “state energy concept”, a strategic document expressing the goals of the state in managing energy in accordance with the principles of sustainable development, ensuring security of energy supply, competitiveness of the economy and social acceptability for the population. |
| Regional | Under section 4 of the Act on Energy Management and section 3 of Regulation 349/2022, there is a requirement for all regions, the capital city of Prague, and statutory cities, to submit a “Territorial Energy Concept” plan. This plan should be compliant with the “state energy concept” and is developed for a duration of 25 years, with planned investment expenditures in five-year segments. The concept should include an analysis of trends in the development of energy demand for different energy carriers, the development of energy infrastructure and renewable energy sources (including thermal energy supply systems), the realisation of energy savings, the reduction of emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases, and should indicate tools and measires for achieving energy policy goals, including investment and operating costs. |
The support framework
An overall weak support framework available to local authorities
Czech local authorities lack access to a support framework for developing local heating and cooling plans, and for energy planning in general. Although there are some specific programs to get technical or financial support for specific projects and technologies (especially for district heating systems), there is no specific program to support strategic energy planning at local level. In addition, there is no significant framework to ensure an easy access by local authorities to the required data for energy planning. Local authorities were able to use support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in national EFEKT programme applying for grant to preparation of Local Energy Concepts up to 20.000 EUR. Local authorities also lack dedicated and skilled human resources for energy planning purposes, in a few frontrunners regions it is partially compensated by regional energy agencies.
Provided Support
| Technical and organisational | 2/5 | Technical support for heating related projects can be accessed from different sources but is fragmented, and a comprehensive technical support framework for integrated and strategic local energy planning is lacking. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) provides some financial support to municipalities for feasibility studies, energy audits and technical studies, while the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) provides technical guidance and information to heat producers. The Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) provides technical support, research, testing and certification to municipalities and other partners in the heating and cooling sector. The CTU in association with the University Centre of Energy Efficient Buildings (UCEEB) has also developed strategic guidelines for decarbonising district heating under government funding. The government operates a network of energy consultation under the EFEKT programme to support the uptake of energy-saving measures and renewable energy sources. |
| Financial | 2/5 | The financial support provided to municipalities for developing certain aspects of heating in their local energy policies is very limited and insufficient. The MPO has been in charge of granting subsidies for investment under the Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation for Competitiveness 2014-2020 (OP EIC), which provided subsidies for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in the industrial sector. The level of funding available for district heating plans is assessed on a case-by-case basis, allowing eligible small municipalities the opportunity to receive up to full funding based on their unique project requirements and circumstances. The Ministry of Environment (MPZ) is slowly replacing the MPO in funding programs (by using the Modernisation Fund) related to heating and cooling. However, local authorities are heavily dependent on EU funds and programmes to support their energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, especially in the building sector. |
| Staff & skills | 2/5 | Municipal administrations lack dedicated energy and climate departments to tackle heating and cooling decarbonization. This deficit is partially offset by regional energy and climate agencies, which provide necessary expertise. Larger cities, typically those with populations in the tens of thousands, assign dedicated staff for district heating (DH) projects and qualify for additional support. Despite this, municipal management of these systems tends to be limited, relying on a single energy manager overseeing efforts to improve energy savings |
| Access to data | 2/5 | There are no available regional and national data platforms or tools designed to assist municipalities in managing and analysing data on heating and cooling. Data on the technical and economic potential is not available for any of the renewable energy sources. In addition, utilities such as electricity, gas, and district heating do not have an obligation to publish or provide energy demand data to local authorities. However, this information can be provided on demand. Data regarding the heating systems used in buildings are not publicly available. On another hand, local authorities do have access to the spatial position of energy infrastructure for electricity and district heating grids. The country should improve its data collection and analysis on the building stock to support energy planning at local level. |
