The Czech Republic installed 967 MW of solar energy in 2024, powered by residential, commercial and industrial (C&I) projects, which accounted for 930 MW of the total, says the Czech Solar Association (Solární Asociace).
According to data from Solární Asociace, the Czech Republic will have added at least 967 MW of solar energy by 2024.
The result builds on the 484 MW installed in the Czech Republic in the first six months of 2024 and in line with installation figures from 2023, when 970 MW were deployed.
Jan Krčmář, executive director of the association, said pv magazine the final figure could be around 1 GW when off-grid systems and local distribution networks are taken into account.
In 2024, the C&I market led the new solar installations in the Czech Republic, accounting for approximately 500 MW of added solar energy, followed by the residential (430 MW) and utility markets (40 MW).
“The Czech Republic is still a subsidy-driven market. Almost all residential and C&I roof projects are based on subsidies,” says Krčmář. “Because there are no auctions for large-scale utilities and because power purchase agreements are very rare, almost no projects of this type are being built.”
Krčmář said future solar additions depend on the Czech Republic’s ability to revive its utility sector. Current estimates predict 800 MW to 1 GW of solar this year and 800 MW to 1.4 GW in 2026, based on utility-scale growth.
Krčmář also said that the Czech solar energy sector needs stability in the future retroactive cuts to feed-in tariffs (FITs) on some solar energy systems emerging after Czech lower house supported the proposal December 2024.
“We are still fighting against retroactive changes of 2 GWp of ‘old’ solar energy between 2009 and 2010,” Krčmář said. pv magazine. “Almost all new projects are being developed by companies operating these old PV plants and their new projects would be at risk if the FiT for the old projects is reduced.”
He said Solární Asociace would recommend auctions or major improvements to the licensing problems currently facing companies to support the sector.
“We need predictable subsidy programs for roof projects. Conditions for the residential sector have changed twice in the last twelve months,” said Krčmář. “The C&I sector is facing challenges in managing subsidies for businesses that will soon need to be eliminated.”
In 2024, the Czech Republic introduced its first lines for agrivoltaic energy, which is available to the Czech Parliament extensive with a new wave of approvals early this year.
Last year, the European Investment Bank also provided a €400 million loan to Czech utility ČEZ. upgrade and expand The Czech electricity distribution network.
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