“The interest in connecting green power plants, especially solar ones, continues and will also grow this year, as we had already connected the same number of power plants to the distribution network by May as we did in the whole of last year. This year, we have increased total investments to CZK 16 billion, of which CZK 6.5 billion is being invested in necessary modifications to strengthen the network due to the increased number of applications to connect power plants,” says Martin Zmelík, ČEZ Distribuce CEO.

The Central Bohemia Region is showing the greatest interest in PPPs

 In terms of regional distribution, in the first half of 2023 power engineers connected the most solar power plants in the Central Bohemia Region, a total of 8,728 units with an installed capacity of 76.1 MW. The Moravia-Silesia Region came in second place in the solar league rankings with 4,432 photovoltaic power plants with an installed capacity of 55.5 MW. Bronze went to the Pilsen Region, where power engineers connected 2,656 photovoltaic power plants with an installed capacity of 38.1 MW to the grid. See the table for other regions.

PPP connected to the ČEZ Distribuce grid, 1st half of 2023

There is also interest in electricity sharing

Since the beginning of this year, ČEZ Distribuce has received over 30 applications for the provision (mediation) of electricity sharing in residential buildings. Two thirds of these have already been approved, while the remaining ones are being processed by power engineers. If necessary, they communicate with the customers and agree on the details and documentation necessary for the approval of their applications. These are mainly smaller groups, where the sharing participant is a group of up to four to six participants per connection point.

Details for potential applicants can be found on the Electricity Sharing website | ČEZ Distribuce (cezdistribuce.cz)

ČEZ Distribuce continues to regularly update its For Producers website to reflect the developing situation and legislation in the field of energy and power-plant connections | ČEZ Distribuce (cezdistribuce.cz)

The current free capacity for connecting power plants can be monitored on the Power Plant Connection Options website | ČEZ Distribuce (cezdistribuce.cz)

The company is constantly monitoring the situation around power plants and customer requirements, and is looking for solutions to prevent bottlenecks in the distribution system. Some solutions are faster while some take more time to prepare and implement. However, during the actual preparation, power engineers can encounter complications when negotiating property rights for the routes and obtaining the relevant permits for the implementation of individual projects.

Currently, the contracted installed capacity for the connection of PPP in the ČEZ Distribuce territory alone is more than 13,668 MW (for comparison: the capacity of one block at Temelín is 1,125 MW). Investors in the individual projects will gradually implement their power plants and connect them to the distribution system. We expect most of these projects to be implemented and connected to the distribution system within about five years. ČEZ Distribuce expects that, in addition to the micro plants, the first large photovoltaic power plants will gradually start to connect to the distribution system this year. Preliminary estimates indicate that this should involve about 4,000 large power plants with an installed capacity of 850 MW.

Soňa Holingerová , mluvčí Skupiny ČEZ