National Energy and Climate Plan of the Czech Republic.

The National Energy and Climate Plan of the Czech Republic was prepared on the basis of a Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action and it contains the main targets and policies in all five dimensions of the Energy Union for the period 2021–2030 with a view to 2050. The main part of the National Plan is the setting of the Czech Republic’s contribution to the European climate and energy targets concerning the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the increase in the share of renewable energy sources and increase of energy efficiency. This is a revised version of the Draft National Plan, which was acknowledged by the Czech Government on 28 January 2019 and submitted to the European Commission on 30 January 2019. The National Plan is based on two main strategic documents, namely the State Energy Policy of the Czech Republic, which was approved in 2015, and the Climate Protection Policy of the Czech Republic, which was approved in 2017. The structure and the elements of the National Plan comply with the above Regulation. In relation to reducing greenhouse gas emissions the European target is set at 43 % compared to 2005 in the sectors covered by the EU ETS, and at 30 % in sectors outside the EU ETS. The main target of the Czech Republic is to reduce the total greenhouse gas emissions by 30 % by 2030 compared to 2005, corresponding to a reduction of emissions of 44 million tonnes CO2 eq. The National Plan also includes long-term indicative targets by 2050 based on the agreed Climate Protection Policy. According to the emission projections, a 34 % reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (compared to 2005) will be achieved through the implementation of the policies and measures contained in the National Plan. Emission projections have been updated for the purpose of preparing the National Plan and are consistent with these energy projections. These projections are prepared on a two-year basis. Decarbonisation also includes renewable energy sources. An EU-wide target by 2030 of 32 %, expressed as a share of renewable sources in gross final energy consumption, was agreed. The recast of the Renewable Energy Directive (2018/2001) furthermore includes requirements for sub-targets in heating and cooling and in transport. The Czech Republic proposes a 22 % contribution to the European target by 2030, an increase of 9 percentage points compared to the Czech national target of 13 % for 2020. The average year-on-year growth of RES share in heating and cooling is proposed at 1 %. In transport, the target is set as binding on all Member States at 14 %. The main policies for fulfilling the proposed contribution include those enshrined in the draft amendment to Act No 165/2012, on supported energy sources, which sets out a new support scheme for renewable or supported energy sources after 2020. However, this proposal has not yet passed through the entire legislative process. Other policies beyond the scope of the proposed amendment to the law will also be important to meet the proposed RES contribution. In energy efficiency, there are three targets for the period 2021–2030: (i) an indicative target for the size of primary energy sources, final consumption and energy intensity; (ii) a binding energy savings target for public sector buildings; (iii) a binding year-on-year rate of final consumption savings. These objectives correspond to Articles 3, 5 and 7 of the of Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency, as amended. The aim of the Czech Republic is to reach primary energy sources at the level of 1 735 PJ in 2030, final consumption at the level of 990 PJ and energy intensity of GDP at the level of 0.157 MJ/CZK. The Czech Republic has chosen a target expressed in the energy intensity of GDP as its primary objective. On the basis of an assumed energy performance of central institution buildings in 2020, the Czech Republic set the commitment to achieve energy savings in buildings with low energy performance of these institutions of 124 TJ, in accordance with the rules of the Energy Efficiency Directive. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 7, a commitment of cumulated energy savings of 462 PJ was set on the basis of the available EUROSTAT data and the consumption forecast in 2018 and 2019. The commitment in Articles 5 and 7 is preliminary and will be recalculated on the basis of current data available in 2020. In order to meet its energy efficiency targets and commitments, the Czech Republic will continue to use economic measures, including public support, legislative measures and measures in the field of education and counselling. Measures for the implementation of Article 7 are clearly listed in Annex 4. In the field of energy security, the National Plan is based mainly on the targets and policies contained in the approved State Energy Policy of the Czech Republic. As regards the dimension energy security, there are no EU-level targets, although there are a number of requirements arising from European legislation, for example from the Regulation concerning measures to safeguard the security of gas supply. The main objectives can be described as increasing the diversification of the energy mix, maintaining self-sufficiency in electricity supply, ensuring sufficient development of energy infrastructure and no significant increase in import dependency. However, import dependence is very likely to gradually increase due to a decrease in the use of domestic brown and black coal and the related increase in imported energy commodities. With regard to the internal energy market dimension, the achievement of the electricity interconnection of 15 % by 2030 is crucial. The Czech Republic aims to maintain the import/export capacity of the transmission system, among other things, for 2030 in proportion to the maximum load of at least 30/35 %, which corresponds to the 15 % target in terms of installation performance. The Czech Republic’s interconnection is already almost 30 %, so the Czech Republic does not consider it necessary to introduce further specific policies in this area. Energy market integration and infrastructure development are already significantly harmonised at EU level. Further harmonisation is clearly provided by European legislation, which also includes most of the information and planning obligations, such as the obligation to prepare ten-year network development plans for transmission systems. The National Plan describes the current state and the expected development of market integration and energy infrastructure. The fifth dimension of the Energy Union is that of research, innovation and competitiveness. In this regard, the Czech Republic has not set any specific quantifiable targets in public research, development and innovation specifically related to the Energy Union. However, research, development and innovation in sustainable energy are one of the priority areas of key strategic documents such as the National R&D Strategy for Smart Specialisation and the National Priorities for Oriented Research, Experimental Development and Innovation. In the development of priorities in this area, the Czech Republic also seeks to take into account the priorities at EU level, especially the priorities of the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan. It is not possible to precisely determine the exact level of public funding of research, development and innovation for low-carbon technologies. However, the National Plan shows the estimate of public finances allocated to the energy sector.
Total investments related to the fulfilment of the National Energy and Climate Plan of the Czech Republic are estimated between CZK 1 to 5 billion. These investments have been quantified in detail with a view to meeting the RES and energy efficiency targets. Total costs associated with the development of renewable energy sources amount to almost CZK 900 billion. In this respect, it is worth pointing out that this is a cost at the level of state aid, the total investment will be higher than that. Achieving the annual savings target (under Article 7 of Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency) is associated with a total investment of CZK 634.5 billion and an allocation of CZK 157.8 billion of public expenditure. Additional investments / public funds will have to be further spent to comply with Article 3 of the Energy Efficiency Directive. Other dimensions will also be linked to additional investments, such as infrastructure development. Detailed information is provided in Chapter 5.3.