(CIA, Dec 31) Power utility CEZ has acquired a 100% stake in Prague-based company Gentley, whose main activity is the development of projects for the use of renewable energy resources. CEZ provided this information without any further detail to the bourse.

Gentley is currently getting ready to build one of the largest photovoltaic power plants in the Czech Republic. In October 2009 the Ceske Budejovice magistrate issued permits for the construction of photovoltaic power plants on 22 hectares near the municipality of Sevetin and on an area of 33.5 hectares near Drahotesice. Solar panels with an output of up to 27 MW can be situated on the area of 55.5 hectares.

(CIA, Dec 31) CEZ Obnovitelne Zdroje has called a tender for a complex modernisation of its small hydroelectric power plant in Pardubice. Work is scheduled to start in November 2010 and end in February 2012. The preliminary value of the contract amounts to CZK 70 mln.
Interested parties have to prove that they achieve an annual turnover of more than CZK 70 mln and document implementation of similar contracts in the past five years. The deadline for the submission of bids is 26 March 2010. The amount of bid is the decisive selection criterion.

(CIA, Dec 31) A range of Czech companies that have not specialised in electricity production to date have decided to invest into photovoltaic power plants. At the end of last year, solar power plants were for example launched by Diamo, Karlovarske Mineralni Vody and Carbounion Bohemia.
The public enterprise Diamo decided to build a photovoltaic power plant in the area of the Dolni Rozinky uranium mine in the Vysocina Region, where it has situated 24,400 solar panels with a total installed capacity of 4.4 MW. The power plant was constructed by Energie 3000.
Carbounion Bohemia, an electricity and coal merchant, has built a photovoltaic power plant with a capacity of 1,023 kW in the vicinity of Velke Nemcice in the Breclavsko district. Karlovarske Mineralni Vody owns, through the Golem-Energo company, a solar power plant with an output of 1,421 kW. The plant is situated in the neighbourhood of the Semnice municipality in the Region of Karlovy Vary.

(CIA, Jan 5) The largest photovoltaic power plant that has ever been completed in the Czech Republic is owned by Solar Stribro, which belongs to entrepreneur Josef Stauer and German S. A. G. Solarstrom. The plant, which is situated in a former military zone near the city of Stribro, has an installed capacity of 13.6 MW. The second largest solar power plant was built by REN Power CZ Solar II., which is linked to the Czech Coal group. The plant is found in the neighbourhood of Velke Tesany in the Kromerizsko county and has a capacity of 7,267 kW.
Both the above-mentioned power plants were put into operation in December 2009. Another solar power plant is being built by FVE Czech in the vicinity of the East-Bohemian municipality of Smirice. With its total output reaching 6,086 kW it ranks third among Czech photovoltaic power plants.

(CIA, Jan 6) In December, the municipality of Kralupy Nad Vltavou approved changes to the building permit previously granted to Prague-based company Decci, which plans to build one of the Czech Republic′s largest photovoltaic power plants north of Kralupy Nad Vltavou. The plant shall have a total capacity of 32.5 MW.
The municipal office approved a shift in the deadline for the completion of the construction project to the end of the year. The project has been divided into thirteen 2.5MW phases. The location of individual solar panels has also suffered slight changes.

(CIA, Jan 6) The fourth block of the Hodonin power plant began serving as biomass-burning unit on 31 December 2009. Its electrical output ranges between 25 MW and 30 MW. The block burns up to 1,200 tons of biomass a day.

(CIA, Jan 7) CEZ Obnovitelne zdroje's biggest production source, Usti nad Labem-based Strekov Hydraulic Power Plant, made 90.03m kWh of electricity for the last year. This means a 11.7 % YOY growth.
CEZ Obnovitelne zdroje's agent, Libor Kicmer, says that last year there was enough water in the rivers without big swings, which was ideal for the power plants. The Strekov plant increased production also due to new technologies.

(CIA, Jan 8) CEZ Obnovitelne Zdroje managed to launch five photovoltaic power plants with an aggregate output of 18.9 MW by the end of last year. They are projects purchased from other companies. In December two wind power plants with an output of 4.1 MW situated near the Veznice municipality in Vysocina also launched operations.
In December, four solar farms succeeded to the first large photovoltaic power plant near Hrusovany Nad Jevisovkou (3.8 MW), which was put into operation last November. The largest of them is found in the vicinity of the Zabcice municipality near Brno (5.6 MW); the remaining ones are situated in the Tabor county. The Cekanice power plant has a capacity of 4,480 kW. The plants in Bezerovice and Chynov have an output of 3,013 kW and 2,009 kW, respectively.

(CIA, Jan 11) At least 115 large photovoltaic power plants were built in the Czech Republic last year; each with an output of at least 300 kW. Three existing solar parks were expanded. The aggregate installed output of new sources totals 168.5 MW.
Thirty-four photovoltaic power plants with a total installed capacity of 49.5 MW were completed in November. As of 1 January 2010, at least 246 larger solar power plants with a total capacity of 330 MW were connected to the grid.

(CIA, Jan 12) CEZ Obnovitelne Zdroje has put into operation a solar power plant that is situated on the roof of its small hydroelectric power station in Prelouc. The photovoltaic system with an installed capacity of 20.8 kW covers an area of 600 m2. The CEZ group thus produces electricity from two renewable resources in one place.
Managing director of CEZ Obnovitelne Zdroje Libor Kicmer mentioned that in Prelouc his company had used a system of thin layer solar cells integrated into a new hydro-insulation foil on the hydro power station′s roof.

(CIA, Jan 13) The Ustecko regional authority has approved SCES-Energo's plans to situate three wind power plants with an installed output of 6 MW near the Mikulasovice municipality in Sluknovsky Vybezek. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure is thus approaching its end after sixteen months.
The investor wants to situate the W2000spg power plants from Czech manufacturer Wikov Wind on the Vetrnik hill, which is found roughly fifteen kilometres east of the centre of Mikulasovice.

(CIA, Jan 14) Twenty-two wind power plants with a total installed capacity of 43.85 MW were put into operation in the Czech Republic last year. The twenty wind power plants that were launched in 2008 had a total installed capacity of 32.2 MW. Company Vetrna Energie HL, which launched nine wind power plants with an output of 18 MW, accounted for the largest part of the last year′s increase. CEZ Obnovitelne Zdroje launched two windmills near Janov (4 MW) and other two in the vicinity of Veznice (4.1 MW). Four wind power plants with an installed capacity of 8 MW were put into operation by APB-Plzen in the neighbourhood of the Krasna municipality in Assko. Winding WE situated two windmills (4 MW) near Horni Castkov in Sokolovsko. One 2MW windmill was launched by V-Stav Invest. S&M CZ and Hikele launched one 1.25MW windmill each in the Ostry Kamen locality.