The EU electricity market will grow by 10 per cent

The EU market will grow by 10 per cent after the enlargement of the European Union by 10 countries. The electricity market within the European Union has been above 2 550 TWh level up to now, after the enlargement it will be almost 2 850 TWh. The Czech market has amounted to ca 54 TWh so far. CEZ, as the largest Czech power company, will make up for 2 per cent of the EU market.

The electricity market in the European Union will reach roughly 73 per cent of the largest world electricity market USA market. However, it will be 60 per cent larger than the market in Russia. French EdF will still account for the largest share of the market, which is about 17 per cent. The second largest share 8 per cent- will be held by Italian ENEL. The Power Company CEZ with its 2 per cent share will be ranked ninth within the EU.

Structure of electricity generation by sources will not change significantly within the EU after the enlargement. The share of production in nuclear and hydro power plants will slightly fall, on the contrary the share of conventional power plant production (coal, gas,...) will grow.

Virtually no changes are expected to occur with 1 May for CEZ, nor for the CEZ Group. However, the reduction of the VAT basic rate from 22 to 19 per cent will bring an interesting benefit to consumers. Following that, the rate of electricity will reduce by 2.4 per cent from May. Depending on consumption, households can save in monthly terms up to tens of CZK.

The changes required by the Union have already been made in the Czech Republic. The market has been gradually opening since 2002, and legislation has been being amended since 2000 already. The Czech power grid was connected with the West-European one even earlier. CEZ has also implemented important ecological measures on coal sources and increased nuclear safety of its plants up to the European standard level.

The competition will become tougher for CEZ within the EU, and will keep getting even stronger. That raises a necessity to continue strengthening the ability to compete and increasing efficiency. Nevertheless, CEZ is able to succeed in European competition.

Share of single sources in electricity generation

	EU to date (15)	EU new (25)	Czech Republic
Nuclear power plants	33,2	31,9	31,1
Conventional plants	52,1	54,4	66,7
Hydro power plants	11,8	11,1	2,2
Other renewable sources	2,9	2,6	0

Ladislav Kriz, Press Officer, CEZ, a. s.

30. 4. 2004