| Author (Person) | Jeffries, Elisabeth |
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| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.10, No.8, 4.3.04 |
| Publication Date | 04/03/2004 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Elisabeth Jeffries Date: 04/03/04 "ANY way the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me" claimed the late rock singer Freddie Mercury in his rhapsody about a Bohemian boy. But real Bohemians will be very concerned with the wind direction over the next few months, from a political, environmental and health perspective. That is partly because of 180 turbine giants, whose stretching arms will soon be visible in the Krusne Hory mountains of Northern Bohemia, if an environmental impact assessment due to finish in April prompts a go-ahead. Backed by British company Virtual Utility and the Czech conglomerate Proventi, who will together invest €420 million, the first phase of construction of the 350-megawatt project will be completed by early 2005. "It's the first utility-grade wind farm in the country, so that's a huge advantage for us," comments Michael Annis, corporate finance director at Virtual Utility, which wants to build several wind farms in the Czech Republic. His confidence may be boosted if the energy plans of the Czech environment ministry - more wind, biomass, solar and hydro energy accompanied by greater gas reliance, more energy efficiency and less coal - come to fruition. As the government pushes through the implementation of the EU renewables directive this spring, the energy debate has resurfaced. First, there's the question of how to finance the renewables. Having originally introduced a subsidy-based fixed tariff regime, the government is now proposing a green (renewables obligations) certificate system that depends on consumption quotas. This obliges power users to buy a certain proportion of energy from renewable sources, or pay a penalty. But some environmentalists doubt this will be the most effective way to pump up the market and meet the Czech Republic target to source 8% of electricity from renewables by 2010. "On the basis of EU-15 experience, green certificates work best when certain factors are present: high quotas, liquidity in the financial markets, penalties and the banding of quotas according to the potential of each renewable energy sector," emphasizes Giulio Volpi, climate policy officer at the World Wide Fund for Nature. As he does not think the Czechs meet these criteria at the moment, Volpi urges the use of long-term feed-in tariffs using civil contracts "which cannot be changed by a political majority; this reassures investors [against political risk]". He also believes that the quota system "gets hijacked by big utilities". Virtual Utility's Annis is happy with both systems. "The perfect scenario is a guaranteed tariff for 15 years," he agrees, but in his view the renewable obligation system dictates a solution to market creation through the obligation either to build the capacity or pay financial penalties. The improvement in international energy prices and the "cross-border mechanisms for sourcing renewable energy" also provide a more favourable investment culture, he suggests. A second proposal looms larger still from Prague. Milan Urban, the Czech industry and commerce minister, wants a new nuclear power station built at Blahutovice, near the Polish border, in 2015. His plan on energy-sourcing up to 2030, which will be discussed by the government in early March, rests on a local sourcing agenda. Under this, the Czech Republic would increase nuclear energy and use independent, stable, energy supplies, minimizing the use of gas from Russia while exporting nuclear power to the EU. "Local mayors have refused it [Blahutovice] because it is a pristine nature area. There have already been efforts by coal miners to break in [to the area] because there are also deposits of quality black coal there," says Jiri Tutter, Greenpeace's executive director in the Czech Republic. The government's alternative is to build two new reactors at Temelin. And, despite the opposition, more nuclear energy appears likely - given the current political climate. "My personal view is that government will go for a bigger Temelin," says Tutter. "After the costs fiasco of Temelin they would have to fight two powerful obstacles - the public and cost efficiency - in the case of a completely new plant in Blahutovice. "With Temelin, there is only one of these - the public."
The Czech Government is forging ahead with implementation of the European Union renewables directive, although it also intends to build up nuclear energy in the Czech Republic. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Energy |
| Countries / Regions | Czechia |
