Czech lower house passes bill to end renewables subsidies - report

Aug 16, 2013 - The lower house of the Czech Parliament today voted to terminate support for new renewable energy projects from the start of 2014 under a draft law that aims to limit price hikes, Reuters reported.

The bill needs to get the Senate’s nod and be signed by the president. If that happens, there will be no subsidies and feed-in tariffs (FiTs) for solar, wind, biomass and hydropower plants that achieve grid-connection after January 1 next year.

Renewable power facilities are seen to receive CZK 44 billion (USD 2.27bn/EUR 1.7bn) in subsidies this year, coming from consumers and the state budget, Reuters said. The draft law will also limit the price that consumers pay to support renewables to CZK 495 per MWh, compared to CZK 583/MWh currently. This means that the government will take on a larger portion of the FiT costs.

The bill also envisages increased control over renewable energy capacity ownership so companies developing green projects will need to reveal who exactly owns the plants to get subsidies. That amendment followed reports that politicians have taken advantage of the renewable energy FiTs in the past.

(CZK 10 = USD 0.516/EUR 0.387)

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