CEZ Group

The first out of four units of the Orlik hydropower plant was put into controlled operation, following over a year of inactivity. Most of the hydropower plants of the Vltava Cascade had to be put out of operation after last year´s devastating floods, and Orlik and Stechovice plants were the most seriously damaged ones. The Orlik powerhouse therefore had to go through a complex overhaul. After 16 months of a forced inactivity, the largest and most significant power plant of the Vltava Cascade began generating electricity again (output of 4 x 91 MW) .

CEZ power company is entering a new stage, aimed at the utilisation of renewable energy, namely biomass. From the next year onwards, CEZ will use biomass on a much larger scale and with a long-term perspective. CEZ plants have incinerated 7 500 tons of biomass this year. Next year´s volume should exceed 130 thousand tons, thus substituting about 97 thousand tons of brown coal (of average calorific value), which would otherwise be incinerated by CEZ plants (the amount equals almost 100 trainfuls of coal).

Today, at noon, the MAAE expert team will complete its one-week follow-up OSART review mission in Temelin power plant. The team, made of five international experts, has been evaluating the extent to which the plant had incorporated the recommendations ensuing from the previous OSART mission, carried out in February 2001. John Cook (USA), the leader of the expert team, said that the plant management had been very attentive towards the recommendations and suggestions of the previous OSART mission held in February 2001. "The management of Temelin power plant went carefully through the recommendations and suggestions from 2001 and devised a number of programmes aimed at solving the indicated problems. The adopted measures are satisfactorily dealing with all the issues earmarked by the last review, which shows the responsible attitude of the Temelin staff, who are doing their best to ensure safe operation of the power plant," said the leader of the expert team.

Today, the CEZ Power Company officially submitted its Letter of Intent to the Slovak State Property Fund, thus expressing interest in partaking in the privatisation of the power utility Slovenské elektrarne (SE). CEZ communicated the fact that it is interested in all the company segments, including its nuclear facilities.

The combined installed capacity of all small hydroelectric power plants operated by the CEZ Group amounts to 59.7 MW (0.5 % of the total installed capacity of the CEZ Group). This means that the CEZ Group is the largest producer of electricity generated by small hydropower plants in the Czech Republic.

The profit of the CEZ Group has more than doubled

Yesterday, 25 November, saw the re-launch of one of those turbo-sets on the Vltava Cascade that were most seriously damaged by last year´s floods the TG3 set of the Stechovice pumped-storage power plant, with the capacity of 45 MW. The set was put into operation several weeks ahead of schedule.

Today´s meeting of the CEZ Board of Directors appointed Petr Voboril as the new Chairman of the Board. Josef Sedlak was appointed the Vice-Chairman of the Board.

In the first three quarters of this year, the CEZ Power Company generated a net profit of 13,679 billion CZK, 8.3 billion CZK more than last year´s figure for the same period, which translates into an increase by 153 per cent. However, this increase in profits was mainly due to the fact that CEZ sold its 66% equity in CEPS (a transmission network operator), the difference between the sale price and the residual value amounting to 12.5 billion CZK. The improved economic performance was also generated by a pronounced increase in the sales of electricity (by 3.8 billion CZK), despite the fact that the prices of electricity in the Czech Republic had dropped by 6 per cent.