On Monday 27 May, the European Commission announced that it had authorised a Czech State aid scheme worth around €3.2 billion (CZK 75 billion) to support the production of electricity from high-efficiency combined heat and power plants.
The scheme is open to companies operating new or upgraded cogeneration plants in the Czech Republic, irrespective of the technology, with the exception of those powered by fossil fuels. These installations must meet the definition of high-efficiency cogeneration, as defined in the Energy Efficiency Directive (EU 2023/1791). The Commission states that, in addition, projects involving natural gas will have to either close down the installations benefiting from the aid or commit to switching to renewable and low-carbon gases by 2050.
The aid will reach eligible companies in the form of a feed-in premium for each MWh of electricity produced for a period of 15 years.
The amount of the premium is set by calls for tender, except for small facilities producing up to 1 MWe, for which the amount will be set administratively by the Czech Energy Regulatory Office. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)