The crisis will support the construction of renewable energy sources in western Bohemia

Plzeň - The economic uncertainty in business caused by the financial crisis has initiated projects for electricity generation from renewable sources in the Plzeň and Karlovy Vary regions. The extraordinary attractiveness of this sector is due to higher electricity buying prices, guaranteed by the state for 20 years. The main obstacle for the projects is not money but negotiations with authorities and the public, said the West Bohemia spokesperson for ČEZ, Martin Sobotka.
    "The region is among the strongest in the Czech Republic for solar, biogas, small hydropower plants, and thanks to Plzeňská teplárenská, also for biomass sources," he added. With the prospect of a decline in standard contracts, construction companies from the Plzeň region are increasingly interested in these projects. Jan Hanuš from Komerční banka confirmed to ČTK that the financial crisis has not tightened the provision of loans for these investments. Entrepreneurs and companies from various sectors are venturing into electricity production and sales. "The advantage is the long-term state-guaranteed and subsidized buying price of electricity, and banks respond positively to that," said Václav Štefánek, co-owner of Drůbežárna Š+L in Vejprnice near Plzeň. The company recently completed a biogas plant for 65 million crowns.
    Among the 774 connection requests to the distribution network recorded by ČEZ for the entire year of 2008, photovoltaic sources clearly prevail. "In addition to experienced investors, we encounter beginners whose projects are often incomplete and of poor quality, which prolongs the approval process," said the spokesperson. Speculators who reserve connections solely to hinder competition pose another problem. As a result, ČEZ is now evaluating requests more strictly.
    Greater professionalism among proposers is seen in cogeneration, small hydropower plants, and heating plants; ČEZ has already issued positions on all requests. The challenge for building sources with lower public support (besides solar, wind, or hydro) could be developments in the wholesale electricity market. "The return on investment threshold may lead to delays in some investments that depend on the real energy price," Sobotka noted.
    New wind turbines with a total capacity of over 20 MW are to be built by ČEZ Obnovitelné zdroje near Stříbro. Other companies are striving to construct facilities near Bezvěrov in the Plzeň region (32 MW), near Toužim in the Karlovy Vary region (9 MW), close to Lub near Cheb (4 MW), and near Kasejovice south of Plzeň (2 MW).
    The largest source is the biogas power plant project near Dlouhá Ves in Klatovy with a planned output of 5.6 MW. It is followed by a cogeneration plant for electricity and heat in Poběžovice in the Domažlice region with 4.3 MW and in Sušice with 1.7 MW. Other sources will not exceed 1 MW. The largest new small hydropower plant of 718 kW is intended by the company Elistom and Povodí Ohře. It is followed by Dýšina near Plzeň with 300 kW and Němčovice in Rokycany with 243 kW.