Decarbonising Czech Heating: Priorities, Challenges and Solutions

The Path Forward: What Needs to Be Done? 

Michaela Valentová from Czech Technical University (CTU) set the tone for the discussion by translating her scientific insights into three clear points that we need to focus on implementing. These are:

1. Lower temperatures in district heating networks – More energy-efficient buildings will enable a shift to lower temperatures, making better use of renewable sources and heat pumps.
2. Diversify energy sources – A combination of heat pumps, cogeneration units, and other modern technologies can provide stable and sustainable heating.
3. Integrate heating with the electricity sector – Flexibility services and better use of locally produced electricity can support a more efficient system.

“Lowering temperatures in district heating systems is possible because we now have more energy-efficient buildings where high temperatures of 90–100 degrees are no longer needed. On the contrary, reducing temperatures allows for greater integration of renewable energy sources, which then operate more efficiently,” said Valentová.
However, she also emphasised that in order to achieve them, we need a clear and predictable policy environment. In the end, all speakers agreed on this.

Opportunities and Success Stories: From the Danish town of Felding to the Czech municipality of Svatý Jan nad Malší

A Danish example was presented by a representative of a company specialising in heat pumps – Filip Tesař, who stated, “While every Czech heating plant has a chimney, the Danish one has a heat pump.” He pointed to the aforementioned political environment as the key to the success of Denmark’s heating sector transformation.

Successful examples of local transformation in Czechia are already known, or promising projects are emerging, where the involvement of local residents is always emphasised. An example is a feasibility study for district heating in Jiříkov demonstrating that combining heat pumps and cogeneration units is effective, but high investment costs remain a challenge. Or Milevsko, where a mix of photovoltaics and heat pumps achieved 70% self-sufficiency for an apartment building, leading to long-term savings.

A good example of what can be done even at the level of a small municipality was shown by the mayor of Svatý Jan nad Malší – Růžena Balláková.

“The municipality started addressing district heating as early as 2002, when it was decided to build a large wood chip boiler plant at the local school and install distribution pipelines to other municipal buildings. Thanks to the municipality owning 129 hectares of forest, a significant portion of the fuel supply for heating was secured. In 2004, a second, larger boiler plant was built, and the district heating network was expanded to include new developments with 12 municipal apartments and 15 family houses. Two years later, a third phase extended the network to eight older houses and a municipal apartment building with five units.”

Today, Svatý Jan nad Malší has a fully modernised heating plant, which, in addition to manual fueling, can also be monitored and controlled remotely.

What’s Crucial for the Future?

Workshop participants agreed that successful decarbonisation of Czech heating requires a clear national strategy, financial support for grid modernisation, and cooperation between municipalities and the private sector. Solutions exist—the key is to implement them effectively and at a national level, while prioritizing renewable energy with people participation. 

At the workshop, we also presented a new publication, The Economics of Electricity Sharing which is freely available for download but only in Czech, as it primarily focuses on the Czech context.