Four-Fold Increase In State-Supported Rooftop Solar Plants In 2022, Says Environment Minister

The further expansion of rooftop solar plants is partly limited by supplies of the components and the personnel situation of the suppliers. Photo credit: SAKO.

Prague, Dec 7 (CTK) – The Czech Environment Ministry has subsidised the installation of almost 50,000 rooftop solar plants this year, four times more than in 2021, acting Environment Minister Marian Jurecka (KDU-CSL) told a press conference yesterday.

This year, the ministry approved subsidies to households as well as large solar power plants worth CZK 14 billion, he said. This money was drawn from the Modernization Fund, the National Recovery Plan and the New Green Savings program.

Thanks to solar energy, a household can cover up to 70% of its energy consumption and save on average CZK 30,000 a year, Jurecka said.

“As soon as we are capable of applying modern elements of accumulation, aggregation and flexibility, we will be able to create an effective system on the basis of community energy generation, that will cover almost 100% of people’s energy use,” Jurecka said, adding that the system’s flexibility is to be boosted by new legislation under preparation by the Environment Ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The further expansion of rooftop solar plants is partly limited by supplies of the components and the personnel situation of the suppliers. Problems may also arise from distributors’ limited ability to connect new solar plants to the grid.

This may be solved by the system of “conditional connections,” with new solar plants being connected but with the possibility of disconnection if the grid comes close to being overburdened.

“It is practically no longer possible to connect new solar plants to the grid in some localities in the Zlin and South Moravia Regions,” Jurecka said.

He said the crucial thing is to discuss investments in distribution networks. The distributors are ready, but it is necessary to amend the construction law to enable them to implement their projects faster than in four to six years, he said.

The ministry used money from the Modernization Fund to support some 200 large solar power plants that annually generate electricity covering the needs of 370,000 households, Jurecka said.

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