Following the government meeting held on 19 April, the Minister of Industry and Trade, Jozef Síkela, announced the approval of an amendment to the energy legislation introducing new provisions for electricity storage and aggregation. The aim is to update the electricity market rules and strengthen consumer protection, in line with the 2019 European legislative framework.
The amendment, called LEX OZE II, is one of seven amendments to energy legislation initiated in 2022, in addition to LEX OZE I, which simplified the authorisation and construction processes for renewable energy sources. LEX OZE II focuses specifically on community energy and refines the regulation of spot and quasi-spot energy trade on a monthly basis. These new provisions expand and deepen the existing LEX OZE II, providing a more comprehensive and up-to-date regulatory framework. According to Minister Síkela: “The amendment responds to the updating of the electricity market rules, and therefore brings fundamental changes in the storage, flexibility and aggregation of electricity, which is very important for consumers to be able to adjust their consumption according to market energy prices in the future”. The integration of storage, i.e. the storage of excess electricity produced for feeding it into the grid during consumption peaks, will help stabilise the electricity system in the event of operational fluctuations and facilitate the integration of renewable sources. All this will reduce the volume and costs of the system and, consequently, lower energy prices.
The new regulations also provide for an upgrade of the national energy net, aimed at better adapting to current needs and reducing consumption peaks during periods of high demand. This will favour a more even distribution of energy throughout the day and the merging of several producers into one larger and more efficient entity, which can include a variety of power plants, from wind to solar. In practice, this means that when energy supply is limited, aggregators, whether natural or legal persons authorised by the Energy Regulatory Office (ERÚ), will be able to regulate the production of group members, integrating them with each other, to ensure more efficient consumption of the available energy.
Further regulations concern consumer protection, such as the possibility of withdrawing from fixed-term contracts if the supplier’s purchasing policy conflicts with current regulations. In addition, there are plans to tighten up the licensing of traders in the form of extensions of the post-revocation period of the licence to five years and the broadening of the criteria for assessing applicants, including previous insolvencies and bankruptcies. Traders will be required to set up a mandatory coverage index, which will allow consumers to assess the ability of providers to meet demand. To this end, an energy price and offer comparator, operated by the Office of Energy Regulation, will be set up to allow customers to compare prices and other conditions of electricity and gas supply. To ensure its proper development, all electricity trading companies will in turn be obliged to provide the information required by the ERÚ system.
As indicated by the Energy Storage Association AKA-BUT CZ, through these regulations the Czech Republic aims to close the regulatory gap with other European countries and prevent possible future sanctions. These reforms are designed to modernise the national energy system, providing consumers with advanced tools for a more effective and conscious management of their energy consumption, within a smarter and more transparent market.
Sources: https://www.ceskenoviny.cz/ https://www.mpo.cz/
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