Subsidy call for companies for selfconsumption photovoltaic power plants

This subsidy call is announced by the State Environmental Fund (SEF) and will be financed from the Modernisation Fund. The subsidy applications will be accepted from 1 March 2024 to 31 October 2024. The subsidy will be allocated to projects on a rolling basis in the order in which they are registered in the SEF system. A maximum period of 3 years is set for the actual implementation of the projects from the date of the grant decision. 

Support will be given to stand-alone photovoltaic power plant (PV) projects with one transmission point to the distribution or transmission grid. However, if an applicant seeks support for a larger number of its sites, multiple applications can be submitted for individual sites in the same call. The range of investment size is very wide indeed, projects with an installed capacity of over 50 kWp (even over 10 kWp on the territory of the capital city of Prague) up to 5 MWp can be supported.

In addition to photovoltaic power plants themselves, the project may also include investments in battery storage systems for the electricity produced, or systems for the production of hydrogen by electrolysis of water (so-called electrolysers).

The aid intensity must generally not exceed 50 % of the total project expenditure and must not exceed 30 % of the eligible project expenditure under Article 41 of the General Block Exemption Regulation. The real maximum aid amount is then calculated for each project according to the installed capacity of the PV plant or the installed energy storage capacity.

The unit subsidy per installed 1 kWp of PV will thus range from approximately CZK 8,140 for the smallest installations to approximately CZK 6,375 for the largest installations. So, for example, for a PV project with an installed capacity of 500 kWp, the subsidy will amount to a maximum of CZK 3,631 thousand. In the case of an associated investment in battery storage with a capacity of, for example, 200 kWh, the maximum subsidy will increase by a further CZK 1,894 thousand. This maximum amount of subsidy is not affected by the actual amount of investment costs.

The supported project will have to meet a number of technical requirements. In addition to the requirements for certification and durability of individual components, or minimum efficiency of PV panels and inverters, a crucial condition for project acceptability is to ensure that the energy produced is consumed primarily at the supported applicant's site. This will be demonstrated in the application through the fact that reserved capacity specified in the contract for connection of the plant to the distribution or transmission system is no more than 30% of the installed capacity of the plant at the point of consumption (for PV plants above 1 MWp, no more than 20%).

In addition, the contract for the connection of the generating plant to the distribution or transmission system must include the possibility to limit the use of the reserved capacity without compensation for such limitation, to a minimum of 5% of the total annual production of the generating plant.

The usable capacity of the battery storage shall be in the range of 20-100% of the theoretical hourly production at the installed peak power of the directly connected PV plant. Similarly, the capacity of the electrolyser must be in the range of 

5-1 000 Nm3/h and the ratio of the electrolyser capacity to the installed peak capacity of the directly connected PV plant must be in the range of 10% to 60%.

The maximum capacity or output of the electricity storage systems (battery, electrolyser) is also limited by the fact that they must take at least 75% of their energy from the directly connected PV plant annually.

The submission of the subsidy application is conditional on the provision of all mandatory annexes defined in the call. Among the most crucial and time-consuming ones is the contract on the connection of the power generation plant to the electricity grid (or the future contract). 

Another key attachment to the application is a valid and effective document proving the authorisation of the project issued by the relevant building authority - typically a building permit or its equivalent (e.g. a public law contract), or a statement by the building authority to the effect that the project is not subject to its authorisation.

An energy assessment prepared by a certified person is also an essential part of the subsidy application.

When preparing the application, we must not forget the formal conditions on the part of the applicant, in particular a comprehensive assessment of the economic situation of the applicant or its economic group in terms of the methodology of a company in difficulty.

Rödl & Partner's project team is ready to help you with the preparation of your subsidy application. We will provide all administrative and professional support related to the preparation and submission of the application.