Press releases pg. 17

The largest source of district heating in the Czech Republic is abandoning coal. By 2030, the Mělník site, which supplies Prague, Mělník and Neratovice, will produce heat solely from low-emission sources and will thus significantly help the ČEZ Group itself, as well as Prague and other cities, to achieve their environmental commitments. The first step in the planned transformation is today's shutdown of the largest coal-fired power plant to date, Mělník III. Its closure turns the plant into a pure heating supplier. At the same time, the preparation of the construction of highly efficient steam-gas sources has commenced, with plans to employ other low-emission technologies in the future, such as biomass boilers, heat pumps or equipment for the recovery of energy from waste. These will gradually replace the Mělník II and Mělník I lignite heating plants. The planned environmental measure will not affect the quality of supplies to customers in any way.

The ORLEN Unipetrol Group continues expanding the offer of its Benzina ORLEN network with electricity from fast-charging stations. They can recharge e-car batteries with zero-emission electricity in tens of minutes. In addition, Benzina ORLEN offers eco-friendly energy from ČEZ green stations in ten regions throughout the Czech Republic. Last year, drivers charged up with as much energy as would enable 40 trips around the world.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and ČEZ have signed a Memorandum on the preparation of a project for a factory that makes battery cells for electric cars, known as Gigafactory. The documents set out the basic conditions for establishing the factory and form a foundation for an agreement with other potential investors in the company, in which a representative of the automotive industry and a battery manufacturer would also be involved, in addition to ČEZ. An investment in the project, which has an annual production capacity of 40 GWh, will amount to at least CZK 52 bn, and 2,300 jobs should be created.

The annual reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has been a tradition at the ČEZ Group for several years now, last year being no exception. The ČEZ Group succeeded in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases by 15% year-on-year, meaning a reduction of one-fifth in the past three years. Alongside its progressing decarbonisation, the company increased the generation of energy from renewable sources by more than 7% and accelerated the construction of public charging points for electric cars by 50%. The current Sustainable Development Report maps out the individual steps that ČEZ has taken on the road to clean energy. The report also defines ambitious targets for the future within Vision 2030 Clean Energy for Tomorrow, which was announced this year.