CEZ to Sell Two Coal-Fired Plants

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- The Czech Republic's leading energy company has said uncertainty over the future price of coal has forced its decision to sell two of its coal-fired plants.

CEZ AS (PRG:BAACEZ) (Prague) announced that it is now planning to sell its 1,000-megawat (MW) Pocerady plant, located northwest of Prague, and its 800 MW Chvaletice power station in the Elbe basin, approximately 20 kilometres (km) west of the city of Pardubice. The plants represent around 12% of the company's generation capacity. CEZ claimed that the decision has been brought about because of ongoing uncertainty over the price of coal supplies after 2013 from the fuel supplier, Czech Coal (Prague). Negotiations between both companies have failed repeatedly.

Czech Coal and EPH (Prague) have separately expressed interest in purchasing the plants.

CEZ is also worried about looming European Union (E.U.) emissions regulations that come into effect from 2016. Neither power station has undergone recent modernisation, CEZ claimed, and informed potential bidders that their future operation will require an investment into reducing emissions to meet the stricter emission targets on the way.

"A final decision whether to sell or keep and further develop the two plants within own portfolio will depend mainly on the buy prices offered, the quantity of brown coal available to CEZ Group in the coming years, and on an economic feasibility of operating these two facilities," CEZ said in a statement.

The Počerady power station has five 200 MW units which were commissioned between 1970 and 1975. In the 1990s the plant was partially modernised. It generates about 6 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity annually and is fuelled by brown coal from the Vrsany open cast mine 5km away.

Chvaletice power station is comprised of four 200 MW blocks, built between 1973 and 1979. Sulphuric oxide emissions were reduced in the late 1990s by installing desulphurisation equipment.

Coal-fired power plants account for almost 70% of the country's power and CEZ owns and operates 10 coal-fired power stations. CEZ has previously committed to reducing its greenhouse-gas emissions by 15% by 2020 while simultaneously tripling its energy production from renewable energy resources from 1.7 TWh in 2005 to 5.1 TWh in 2020.

Most recently, CEZ announced that it will soon launch a tender for a strategic partner to expand the Temelin nuclear plant, a project that has spent almost two decades in limbo. For additional information see June 5, 2012, article - CEZ Seeks Nuclear Partner for Czech Republic.

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