Czech Republic - Electricity production nearly doubles in 2008

Electricity production of Czech wind power plants nearly doubled last year - to 245 gigawatt-hours (GWh) from 125 GWh seen in 2007, according to information from the Energy Regulatory Office (ERU) website.

"Energy from the wind, made without any emissions, would in 2008 already cover the need of 170,000 people," said Czech Wind Energy Society (CSVE) chairman Michal Janecek.

Many quality projects for the use of wind power have been prepared, and if there are no administrative obstacles the growth in wind power can be much higher year-on-year, said Janecek.

ERU's Stanislav Travnicek said that wind power plants could generate up to 700 GWh this year.

The Czech Republic has the potential to generate around 6 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity from wind, which would cover the consumption of some 4 million people, according to CSVE data.

Wind power plants together with other renewable energy sources should be developed in the Czech Republic, according to one of the recommendations of the final report of the government's independent energy commission headed by Academy of Sciences chairman Vaclav Paces.

The share of renewable energy sources in electricity production moved around 4 percent in the Czech Republic last year. By 2010, the share should grow to 8 percent, and for the year 2020, the EC has set the target at 13 percent.

Coal-fired power plants, for instance, produced 43 TWh last year covering almost two-thirds of the country's power production. Nuclear facilities supplied 25 TWh to the grid, more than 32 percent of the overall production.

The share of electricity from wind has been growing fast in the Czech Republic in the past few years, but it still stands at less than one percent.

The capacity of installed wind turbines is growing as well.

Around 50 wind power plants with an output of 100 KW and more have been in operation in the Czech Republic.