Ing. Adam Kubín

The aim of this paper is to identify and analyze the key legislation acts for the development of the district heating sector (DHS) in the European Union (EU). Current and upcoming EU legislation is influenced by the plan to achieve a climate-neutral region by 2050, i.e., the Green Deal, and also by the plan to accelerate clean energy transition and increase Europe’s energy independence from unreliable suppliers and volatile fossil fuels, i.e., the REPowerEU plan. The DHS in many EU member states is still based on fossil fuels and will therefore undergo a significant transformation in the future. This paper addresses how relevant considerable time and technical constraints will influence the DHS in the coming years.

This paper presents the methodology and findings of a comprehensive study that in the selected key time milestones (2030, 2040, 2050) assess the ongoing energy transformation and its impacts within the interconnected European electricity system and overall energy security. The study models the expected development of the installed capacities of individual types of energy sources, respecting the steps leading to meeting the EU's ambitious binding climate and energy goals, as well as individual countries’ national plans like development of RES or phase out of coal and nuclear power plants. The majority output of the complex methodology is the evaluation of the state of shortages or surpluses of electrical energy in the European electricity system in the selected key time milestones. The model outputs show that increasing integration of RES may cause higher requirements for maintaining the EU's energy security. The current most significant barriers to the fulfillment of climate and energy goals for maintaining the EU's energy security include not the lack of generation resources but the inflexibility of the electricity system and the lack of technologically and economically efficient seasonal accumulation. It will be essential to involve all types of technologies providing flexibility and all energy market participants, including households.

A team of experts from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague (FEL CTU) has prepared a study focusing on the decarbonisation of the Czech heating industry. The focus was mainly on the strategic, regulatory and technological-economic framework. The results of the study were discussed at an expert workshop with representatives of the ministries of industry and trade, environment, local development and the Heating Association. The aim of this article is to describe and summarise the most important findings and outputs of the study.

This paper analyzes the implications of the EU Taxonomy, as the European Union (EU) instrument to mitigate climate change and reduce import dependency, for the European energy sector in the context of resource adequacy. Resource adequacy is assessed in the medium-term horizon using the case example of the Czech Republic (CZ) as a country facing a significant energy transition, as its resource mix is still largely made up of coal. The analysis is based on the country's energy balance and the available outlooks published in the energy concepts and strategic documents of the CZ. These outlooks are quantitatively analyzed and critically assessed. According to the current set of conditions for new resources resulting from the EU Taxonomy, there is a risk that in the medium term (2040) there will be no new resources, technologies and fuels available in the CZ that would comply with the conditions of the EU Taxonomy and at the same time cover the country's energy needs. This may lead to the situation where Czech Republic's electricity system will be inadequate in terms of generation and installed capacity sooner than would be the case if the implications of the EU Taxonomy were not considered. As a result of the EU Taxonomy, other European countries on the threshold of energy transition may face a similar problem and their energy security may be compromised. The results show that EU Taxonomy can have a significant impact on future development of European energy sector in the context of energy mix.