The analysis of current status and risks for future development of district heating industry in the Czech Republic

The goal of the thesis is identification and analysis of key risks for Czech district heating sector with focus on coal availability and impact of the EU regulatory measures. In the Czech Republic district heating sector is an important part of energy industry. It serves heating needs of 1.5 million households and substantial amount of industry needs. Currently the question of possible brown coal shortage is becoming urgent. Dynamically changing regulatory framework generating requirements for additional investments is destabilizing. The sector is defined, its competitiveness is evaluated and further the risks are analyzed. Based on brown coal market analysis it is concluded that the current market situation can be considered as stabilized. In the long term perspective the question of possible lifting of the coal mining limits remains crucial. It is concluded that impacts of the EU regulatory measures can't be objectively evaluated at the moment. But it can be assumed that most of district heating companies will be finally able to meet the requirements.