The ČEZ Group will invest over CZK 100 bn in the Ústí nad Labem Region by 2030. It wants to maintain its position as the most important local investor and the largest employer. Investments up to 2030 will be directed mainly towards the construction of new heating and power sources and ensuring heat supplies for citizens and companies for the next decades, as well as the development of new sources for the generation of electricity. Other investments will go into innovative projects, such as lithium processing. * ČEZ plans to bring further investments to the region by 2040, as a part of the development of new sources of electricity and heat, e.g. a small modular reactor in Tušimice and related nuclear projects and research. The development of a modern industry sector in the Ústí nad Labem Region will bring both new jobs for employees of retiring coal plants and the improvement of education and opening of new specialised fields, thanks to close cooperation between the ČEZ Group and local schools and universities.
One of the investments is the acquisition of a 100% interest in ACTHERM Distribuce, which supplies heat to Chomutov from the Prunéřov II power plant. The acquisition of ACTHERM Distribuce and the ongoing modernisation of the Prunéřov II power plant are a good starting point for securing the benefits of stable central heat supplies for local citizens and other customers in the future.
“ČEZ is the largest investor in the Ústí nad Labem Region. We employ 6,300 people here and want to continue to be the most important investor and strengthen our position in the region. That is why we have prepared a plan for the Ústí nad Labem Region that shows that we want to remain a good and reliable neighbour that will participate in the region’s development for decades to come and invest significant resources in our local business. In particular, we want to build new heating and power sources that will ensure safe and stable supplies of heat to local citizens and businesses for decades to come, as well as new green sources for electricity generation, especially on the land of our power plants and mines. We are also working on innovative projects with high added value, such as lithium processing. These development projects and modern energy in general will bring skilled jobs and will also be an impetus for research, so we intend to intensify our cooperation with local schools and universities,” said Pavel Cyrani, Vice-Chairman of the ČEZ Board of Directors.
“Ensuring heat supplies for decades to come for the region’s residents is an absolute priority for us. The coal-fired sources that we use in the power sector now that provide supplies will have to come to an end within a few years. I’m very pleased that we have a reliable and proven partner in the region thanks to our long-standing acquaintance and that it wants to participate intensively in the region’s development in the future, build new energy sources and devote considerable funds to this. We are thinking about the future and ČEZ’s investments will ensure both energy supplies in the coming decades and guarantee further development of the energy sector and the creation of new jobs in the whole industry,” said Jiří Kulhánek, First Deputy Governor of the Ústí nad Labem Region.
ČEZ is the largest heat supplier in the region and will gradually replace production in the coal-fired sources in Trmice, Tušimice, Prunéřov and Ledvice with new gas and biomass heating and power plants. The aim is to maintain the advantages of the central heat supply in Ústí nad Labem, Teplice, Chomutov, Kadaň, Klášterec nad Ohří, Bílina, Ledvice, Prunéřov and other towns to the maximum extent.
Modernisation of Prunéřov and Acquisition of ACTHERM Distribuce
The construction of new heating and power plants is now underway at the site of the Prunéřov II Power Plant, from where heat supplies will flow to Chomutov, Klášterec nad Ohří and Jirkov. New gas boiler houses are being built and new cogeneration units and a biomass boiler are being prepared.
“In the Chomutov District, we have two large ČEZ power plants that supply heat to the surrounding towns, in addition to electricity. We support the modernisation of energy sources planned by ČEZ and it has a number of advantages for us. In addition to preserving some jobs, it also means securing long-term heat supplies for decades to come. Converting the Prunéřov and Tušimice power plants to low-emission sources will also help improve the environment and quality of life in the surrounding area. I’m also glad that ACTHERM Distribuce is becoming a part of the ČEZ Group, because it means the long-term stability of the heating industry for the citizens of our city and the whole region. ČEZ is a proven supplier of heat to our city, whose all-round development it has supported for a long time. It is good that this will continue to be the case,” said Marek Hrabáč, Mayor of Chomutov and Ústí nad Labem Regional Councillor.
ACTHERM Distribuce provides approximately 50% of final heat sales from the central heat supply system in the conurbation of Chomutov, Jirkov and Klášterec nad Ohří. It is an operator of heat exchanger stations and secondary heat distribution systems in Chomutov. ACTHERM Distribuce takes heat from Prunéřov Power Plant through primary distribution lines owned by ČEZ Teplárenská. Annually, it supplies about 470 TJ of heat to a total of 384 customers, where 84% of the total amount is consumed by households.
ČEZ is also working on building a connection from Prunéřov to Kadaň, which will also be supplied with heat by the new Prunéřov sources in the future, thus replacing supplies from Tušimice Power Plant, which will serve only as a heating backup.
“At present, we get heat for our town from the Tušimice coal-fired power plant. However, it is clear to us that supplies from this coal-fired power plant will inevitably end in the coming years. We are glad that ČEZ intends to live up to its reputation as a reliable partner and is counting on supplying us with heat even after the shutdown of Tušimice, when Kadaň will be supplied from new modern sources in Prunéřov. This will be ensured by a new connection that will link Kadaň directly to Prunéřov Power Plant. Of course, we, as the founder of the Kadaň heating company, an intermediary between the supplier and the end customer, are most interested in the price, which we will negotiate on intensively,” explained Kadaň Mayor Jan Losenický.
“Maintaining heat supplies from the central heat supply system for almost five thousand flats in Klášterec nad Ohří is one of our priorities. We are pleased that the end of coal certainly does not mean the end of the tried-and-tested cooperation with ČEZ. We believe that the heat from the new green sources that will be created in Prunéřov will be something our citizens can rely on for decades to come,” explained Štefan Drozd, Mayor of Klášterec nad Ohří.
Heat Supplies to Ústí nad Labem and Teplice
ČEZ has the same long-term vision for heat supplies for the regional capital of Ústí nad Labem and for Teplice, which is supplied from the heating plants in Trmice and Ledvice. The coal-fired heating and power plant in Trmice will be closed by 2030 and will be replaced by a steam-gas-fired heating and power plant and a biomass boiler, a contract for the construction of which is currently being tendered. At the same time, the city’s 60-year-old heating system will be modernised, with a conversion to significantly more efficient heat pipes. In the future, ČEZ plans to replace supplies from Ledvice Power Plant, which supplies heat to the towns of Bílina, Ledvice and part of Teplice, with biomass boilers.
“We all know that coal will soon come to the end of its service life in the power sector and we must prepare for what comes next. I’m glad that ČEZ is proving to be a good partner that we can rely on and that is thinking about supplies to Ústí in the long term and informing us in advance about planned projects. We are now working with the municipal utility THMU to preserve the benefits of central heat supplies for decades to come for as many of our citizens as possible. Our goal is to smoothly replace the existing coal-fired source with new, more environmentally friendly heating and power plants,” said Petr Nedvědický, Mayor of Ústí nad Labem.
“In the energy sector, we need to think long-term because it takes years to build new sources. Central heat supply has its advantages and our citizens are used to it. It’s right that ČEZ wants to continue supplying heat to Teplice and is already thinking about what to replace outdated coal with. The Ledvice Power Plant will close down one day and we are glad that heat for our citizens will be stably ensured even then,” added the Teplice Mayor Jiří Štábl.
New power generation sources, especially steam-gas and photovoltaic power plants, will also be built on the premises of the existing coal-fired power plants in Prunéřov and Tušimice and on land now used for coal mines. Other renewable resources will then be developed in agreement with municipalities in other parts of the region.
Development Projects
Further investments will go into strengthening the safety and modernisation of distribution networks or development projects such as the lithium park and preparations for the construction of a small modular reactor in Tušimice. The lithium park, which represents an investment of tens of billions of crowns, could employ about 2,000 people and will process lithium for the automotive and power industries. The project will enable the development of a sophisticated lithium industry with skilled jobs and a long-term perspective, including related research and development. At the same time, ČEZ continues to work on the project of building a battery plant on land belonging to the Prunéřov Power Plant.
A new energy dispatching centre, which is being built under the leadership of ČEZ Obnovitelné zdroje on the premises of the former substation in Málkov, near Chomutov, will literally be the brain of modern energy in the Ústí nad Labem Region and a symbol of the transformation of a coal-mining region into an emission-free one. The dispatch centre will oversee the operation of all ČEZ renewable energy sources in the Czech Republic, thus remotely controlling dozens of photovoltaic, wind and small hydro power plants. ČEZ specialists providing maintenance, diagnostics and information technology systems will have high-quality facilities there.
The transformation of the local energy sector will also have a positive impact on the development and improvement of education in the region. The ČEZ Group is already cooperating with six partner secondary schools, which are the Higher Vocational School and Secondary Industrial School of Mechanical Engineering, Construction and Transportation in Děčín; the Secondary Vocational School of Energy and Construction, Business Academy and Secondary Medical School in Chomutov; the Secondary Industrial School and Higher Vocational School in Chomutov; the Technical Secondary School in Most; the Secondary Industrial School in Ústí nad Labem; and the Secondary School of Construction and Mechanical Engineering in Teplice. There is also close cooperation with Jan Evangelista Purkyně University. Thanks to the planned investments and the transformation of coal-fired plants into a modern power industry, ČEZ will intensify the cooperation in order to prepare all applicants interested in the power industry for future work at ČEZ. As a result, new fields of study will be created that will specialise in positions related to power industry operations.
The ČEZ Group employs almost 6,300 people in the region, including over 4,300 people in the Severočeské doly group and other workers in other group companies. ČEZ invested 100 billion crowns in the 1990s and carried out the fastest greening of coal-fired power plants in Europe, mostly in the Ústí nad Labem Region, and as a result power plant emissions dropped to a few percent of what they were and the Krušné hory mountains became green again.
The ČEZ Group generates more than 7% of the GDP of the entire Ústí nad Labem Region. The ČEZ Group brings almost CZK 900 m in taxes and similar payments to the region’s citizens annually and from 2006 to 2023 provided a total of almost CZK 16 bn. The ČEZ Group also provides the Ústí nad Labem Region with donations and spending on sponsorship activities and has provided over CZK 3 bn in total since 2006. Another nearly CZK 8 bn was invested in the region by Severočeské doly as part of reclamation programmes.
New sources of heat and electricity in individual locations:
Ledvice: new biomass boilers
Prunéřov: biomass boiler, cogeneration units for electricity and heat production, gas boiler plant, renewable sources. Construction of heating connection to Kadaň.
Trmice: new steam-gas source and biomass boiler for heat supplies.
Tušimice: backup gas boiler room, renewable sources.
Renewable resources: A portfolio of 63 ČEZ Group photovoltaic projects in the region with a total capacity of 2.3 GW.
