Energy

In the spring of 2014, power company ČEZ cancelled its tender for the construction of two new blocks at the Temelín Nuclear Power Station. The decision came immediately after the government adopted a resolution in which it rejected “involvement in any type of state guarantee” for new nuclear projects.

Politicians from Central and Eastern Europe use wrong assumptions to justify new nuclear power in their region. They base their pro nuclear stance on an expected significant increase in domestic power demand and increasing wholesale prices. Jan Ondrich reports.

In many countries, solar energy is enjoying great success – photovoltaic modules are increasingly affordable and available to those interested in producing their own electricity. In the Czech Republic, however, those investing in and building solar power stations must constantly resist efforts by the government to destabilise the business environment.

In the Czech Republic, we have had lots of practice commenting on the expectations and tasks of new governments. This is already the fourth cabinet to govern since 2009. Each time, we expect of the new government that it will finally make use of the possibilities to increase energy efficiency, which can liberate homes from their dependence on coal from surface mines in northern Bohemia and on Russian natural gas. Even more so, however, we are waiting for a government that will return stability to investments in renewable energy sources. How can the new cabinet – composed of the Social Democrats, the new party ANO and the Christian Democrats – fare in this role?

In the Czech Republic, a new State Energy Policy is currently being prepared. The current energy policy dates from 2004, and its contents are inadequate for modern industrial trends. Unfortunately, the Czech government has decided to turn its back on opportunities to increase energy efficiency and the use renewable resources. Instead, the basis of the new energy policy is to be the construction of more nuclear reactors.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation presents a new publication entitled Greening the Heartlands of Coal in Europe – Insights from a Czech-German-Polish Dialogue on Energy Issues. This study is the product of a trilateral expert group which met regularly during 2013 at the invitation of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and Ecologic Institute to discuss the influence of the German energy transformation on Germany’s neighbours – Poland and the Czech Republic.