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CEZ Group

Biodiversity and Ecosystems

CEZ Group is aware of the consequences of its activities on ecosystems and their biodiversity. The strategy and planning take into account the principles of sustainable development and biodiversity aspects.

Any activity that is only expected to have an impact on biodiversity and ecosystems undergoes an environmental impact assessment in accordance with Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (in the Czech Republic Act No. 100/2001 Coll., on Environmental Impact Assessment). Both mining and all material production activities underwent this assessment. The relevant public administration bodies, institutions, associations, and other stakeholders described in the chapter Stakeholders of the Sustainability Report 2024 are involved in the impact and risk assessment. CEZ Group conducts consultations with stakeholders, which include obtaining feedback, engaging in project implementation in accordance with applicable legislation and corporate values, ensuring transparency of tenders, obtaining expert opinions and taking them into account in further procedures, and ensuring support and feasibility of projects in a given location. The assessment of the impacts of CEZ Group’s activities on biodiversity is also carried out as part of the assessment of ecological damage and as part of biological surveys conducted in the Group’s locations.

By conducting biological surveys in our locations, various species of animals and plants have been detected, and, in some cases, assessed as protected species. These species are often tied to specific conditions of a particular locality. CEZ Group strives to protect and support these particular areas to promote the existence of rare habitats and the protected species of animals and plants associated with them.

Targets for Supporting Biodiversity and Ecosystems

In the area of biodiversity and ecosystem protection, the following targets have been adopted by CEZ Group in relation to mining activities and mitigation of other impacts on biodiversity. The targets are in line with the biodiversity strategy of the EU and the Czech Republic:

  • To apply procedures within the ongoing reclamation of areas affected by brown coal surface mining, as well as to achieve the target state after the end of mining, using current scientific knowledge and principles aimed at achieving a state close to highvariability nature with elements of replacement habitats, ensuring the preservation of biodiversity and elements of the landscape left to spontaneous succession.
  • To achieve a net positive biodiversity impact by 2030.

In order to achieve the goal of net positive biodiversity impact by 2030, action plans to increase biodiversity are adopted for areas for which it has been assessed in specific cases, based on biological surveys, which actions to support biodiversity can increase species diversity:

  • An action plan for supporting biodiversity in PVPP locations based on biological surveys carried out – the purpose is to implement specific actions to support biodiversity by 2028 (actions focused on the migration of small mammals, support for insect communities and amphibians).
  • An action plan for the implementation of a pilot project of ecological management in the protection zones of very high voltage power lines and in 110/22 kV electrical substations to verify appropriate procedures for the development of biodiversity – the purpose is to implement actions based on the assessment of the locations in several alternatives (maintenance of woody plants, planting of low woody plants, establishment of flower meadows, or establishment of water pools) by 2028 based on dendrological, botanical, and pedological evaluations of selected sample locations. In the event of successful implementation of the pilot project, it will be replicated in other suitable locations.
  • An action plan for the safe landing of birds on high voltage power line support points across the supply area of ČEZ Distribuce by the end of 2035.

Ecological thresholds were not used when setting biodiversity-related targets. The targets for supporting biodiversity related to mining are applied only to locations in the Czech Republic, since the Polish coal assets have been disposed of and CEZ Group does not conduct mining operations in other countries. Regarding other biodiversity targets, the generating facilities of fully consolidated subsidiaries are located only within the EU and comply with the recommended and legally applicable EU frameworks, as verified during the data collection. Targets related to decarbonization activities and low-emission electricity generation create additional opportunities for protecting and promoting biodiversity.

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Protection Actions

In CEZ Group, a number of actions were implemented in 2024 to achieve the set targets in the area of biodiversity. CEZ Group also cooperates with scientific institutions, universities, and nature conservation organizations and adopts voluntary commitments to support biodiversity.

Activities within the ČEZ Group to protect biodiversity:

The ČEZ Foundation supports the development of communities in the Czech Republic through grant programs (Support for Regions, Orange Playground, NGOs – Professional Development of Social Care, Trees, Improvement of Hiking Trails and Running Tracks, Orange Crossing, Employee Grants, Helping Hand for Employees, and Fulfilling Wishes) and fulfills other goals (e.g., support and protection of the environment, biodiversity – SDG 15). The ČEZ Foundation also conducts evaluations within the announced grant programs.

In 2024, the ČEZ Foundation supported 2,041 projects with total amount of CZK 352.6 million, of these, 193 projects were directly related to the protection or promotion of biodiversity, and these projects received support amounting to CZK 1.7 million.

Further information can be obtained:

In 2024, technical and biological reclamation of areas affected by CEZ Group’s mining activities continued; land reclamation was completed on an area of 40.79 ha. Restoration of landscape and ecological stability are essential for minimizing and eliminating environmental impacts of brown coal surface mining. The key objectives of reclamation are the creation of a new landscape with the restoration of all critical functions in the reclaimed areas and their integration into the surrounding landscape. Individual reclamation projects are prepared in accordance with the Comprehensive Remediation and Reclamation Plan. In the design phase of these emerging reclamation areas, the requirements of the stakeholders (communities) are reflected.

Biodiversity protection and enhancement are subject to conditions set out in the mining permits under the Opening, Preparation, and Extraction Plans governing brown coal mining in the Bílina and Nástup Tušimice mines. Reclamation is fully in line with the National Biodiversity Strategy of the Czech Republic 2016–2025, and natural reclamation methods involving spontaneous succession are also applied.

The area of completed or in-progress reclamation and the area of newly covered areas in hectares is a metric for relevant assessment of changes in land use.

More than 29,000 trees and 75,000 shrubs were planted by Severočeské doly part of reclamation in 2024.

Further information can be obtained:

were accepted by the nature protection authority:

  • Succession area Pokrok on the Pokrok tip with an area of 3.6 ha, a technically non-reclaimed area left for natural regeneration in
    order to strengthen the ecological functions of the landscape.
  • Succession areas on the Radovesická tip with an area of 54.3 ha, with the preservation of habitat diversity in the form of
    elevations and depressions as a characteristic remnant after the hopper’s filling of the tip. The resulting varied fragmentation of
    the micro-relief created a whole range of different ecotypes for settlement by different plant and animal species.
  • Succession area Jarmila on the Radovesická tip with an area of 12.4 ha, exceptional terrain fragmentation and gradation of floors,
    which together create a very attractive natural habitat for wildlife and bird nesting. The location is also a popular refuge for insects.
  • Succession areas on the Merkur tip with an area of 32.4 ha, with the preservation of the ruggedness of the terrain, which are
    nesting grounds for a number of endangered bird species, while other endangered species hunt or gather food there.

Land acquisition associated with the overburden removal process is carried out over a long period of time so that the overall intervention is gradual and animal species have time to react to changes (finding and colonizing new or newly created suitable habitats in the vicinity, etc.). In 2024, there was no land acquisition carried out.

Before the mining process, biological monitoring of the acquired lands is carried out. Its purpose is to map the occurrence of specially protected animal and plant species. In the case of their occurrence, a transfer is made to the gradually emerging replacement habitats created in the restoration areas.

In cooperation with the Braňany Elementary School, a rescue capture and transfer of amphibians from the Teplice disposal site to a site near Mariánské Radčice was carried out. As part of efforts aimed at increasing biodiversity, Severočeské doly a.s. built nine new artificial pools and a number of stone and wooden elements to support the population of insects and small mammals.

CEZ Group places a great emphasis on protecting birds from electrocution and preventing injuries and deaths of birds caused by their landing on power lines. Therefore, this impact was identified as material in the impact analysis.

A mitigation measure is the installation of safe brackets with a support bar or plastic protectors that allow birds to land safely. This type of protection is used in the reconstruction or construction of new high voltage lines.

In the distribution system of ČEZ Distribuce 1,022 existing high voltage power line support points out of a total of approximately 476,000 high voltage support points were equipped with protective elements in 2024, of which 72% are now safe for birds. In 2024, CZK 0.8 million were spent on bird protection. ČEZ Distribuce also monitors stork nests located on the distribution system installations. The nests are removed and transferred to safer places in collaboration with regional authorities and the Czech Society for Ornithology. The support point is then fitted with a barrier to prevent the stork from returning. If nest removal is not possible, the wires around the nest are insulated to prevent storks’ injury or death by electrocution.

Further information can be obtained:

In 2024, the success story of support for the nesting of the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) continued at CEZ Group sites. Since 2011, when the first falcon nesting box in the Czech Republic was placed on the cooling tower of the Tušimice power plant, at least 186 chicks have been raised on high-rise power plant structures, chimneys, and cooling towers.

Further information can be obtained:

An important area, where monitoring and protection of endangered plants and animal species is carried out, is the former Tušimice ash deposit area. The presence of endangered species of butterflies, birds, reptiles, and plants (Hipparchia semele, Sylvia nisoria, Lacerta viridis, Helichrysum arenarium) is a subject of protection in this area. The aim of protection is to stabilize and strengthen the populations of threatened species and to maintain or increase the potential of the area for permanently occurring species on the Red List of Threatened Species of the Czech Republic. In this area, CEZ Group provides contractual protection pursuant to Act No. 114/1992 Coll., on Nature and Landscape Protection, eliminating invasive plant species, controlled mowing and grazing by sheep and goats in order to maintain optimal conditions for the redshank population and, last but not least, the monitoring and evaluation of individual indicators of the
protected area.

CEZ Group also addresses threatened species in the Severní lom site of the Prunéřov power plant, where suitable nesting sites for the river sandpiper (Riparia riparia) are created and activities are managed with regard to the nesting period of this species.

A suitable space has been created within the Ledvice power plant for the rescue of the critically endangered common crucian carp (Carassius carassius), which is currently being displaced in nature by the invasive species crucian carp (Carassius auratus). Suitable conditions for breeding the crucian carp were created in the retention tank of the power plant’s technological water treatment plant. In cooperation with a fishing association, genetically pure individuals, unaffected by crossing with the invasive species, suitable for breeding, found near the Ledvice power plant, were secured. In order to assess the health of the population and its growth,regular control catches are carried out. Based on expert advice, a suitable time for harvesting and returning the bream
to its natural habitat will be determined.

CEZ Group also cooperates with the irrigation system administrator Lesy České republiky s.p. and, by diverting surface water through the area of the Hodonín power plant, it contributes to the protection of the unique and irreplaceable habitat of alluvial forests in the Czech Republic, threatened by previous complex water management actions. In addition, the diverted surface water subsidizes the Podluží spring, a source of drinking water for the local community.

Further information can be obtained: