Laura Otýpková
Lawyer and Head of the Responsible Energy Team
What would happen to Czech power grid in 2030 if all coal power plants were shut down? Even without coal-fired generation it is possible to ensure stable electricity supply in the Czech Republic, proves a study which we publicly presented in May 2018. Now we introduce new additional scenarios to the study, again analysed by Energynautics.
New scenarios show that Czech power grid poses no obstacle to phase-out of all coal powered power plants, even under the following conditions:
Increase in power consumption due to development of electromobility and heat pump. The study concludes that grid stability poses no major obstacle for the transformation of Czech energy sector from coal to renewables. In includes also an overview of recommended measures, which could increase the ability of the grid to react to fluctuation in VTE and FVE production for individual scenarios. The measures comprise the possibility of energy accumulation in heating stations and biogas storage in biogas stations. These measures would increase the potential of these sources for generation dispatch management. Further improvement can be achieved through optimalization of CCGT turbines.
The study reacts to the current European drift from coal towards renewable energy. This trend often raises a question: could the substitution of coal power plants with sources which are highly dependant on weather threaten the stability and security of power supplies? This question is definitely appropriate - the share of renewables in the European union is 30 % and increasing. This growth in renewable energy is caused especially by solar and wind sources of energy and biomass. The study which is unique to the Czech environment shows that the options of Czech power grid do not stand in the way of further energy transformation.
The additional research was carried out by a renown German consulting company Energynautics, upon a request of Czech organizations – Glopolis, Frank Bold and Hnutí Duha (Friends of the Earth Czech Republic).
Yesterday, on 5 November 2018, a lawsuit against the Ministry of the Environment (MoE) on liability for health damages and death of her husband from lung cancer was filed with the District Court in Prague 10. The plaintiff seeks damages for lung cancer, which she has managed to cure, but her husband has succumbed to the illness in October. The cause of the disease is seen in the long-term excessive concentration of air pollutants at their place of residence in Ostrava-Radvanice and in the fact that the MoE failed to provide effective measures to decrease the pollution to legal limit values.
The Brussels office of the public interest law firm Frank Bold is currently recruiting a Research Intern to start full-time in January 2017 for a period of four to six months.
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