CEZ Group

In 2016 the team of CEZ Hungary Ltd. decided that the amount that is usually spend on the gifts of our Partners should be given to charity, thus supporting the operation of the Bátor Tábor Foundation.

CEZ Group has acquired another 35 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 85.25 MW in the German market. Its eight wind parks are dispersed over northern Germany and all of them have already been commissioned. Operating support is obtained under the contract with wpd windmanager, a sister-company of the reputable seller, wpd AG. The wind farms benefit from the 20-year feed-in tariff.

The wind park with a total installed capacity of 12.8 MW was built as a turnkey project in southwest Germany. CEZ acquired the project, including a 20-year feed-in tariff subsidization contract, from AREAM, a German Investment and Asset Manager.

The agreement foresees a new purchase contract for the supply of brown coal from Sokolovská uhelná and the sale of the Tisová Power Plant by the CEZ Group to Sokolovská uhelná. In addition, both parties have agreed to take steps to put an end to all existing lawsuits and not to raise any more claims.

The contracts for a turn-key delivery of a coal power plant, signed today by the contracting entity and the investor, Elektropriveda Crne Gore A.D. of Montenegro, and the General Contractor tender winner, ŠKODA PRAHA a.s., a member of CEZ Group, brought to fruition several years of the Czech corporation’s effort to strengthen energy self-sufficiency of Montenegro.

In the first half of 2016 CEZ Group has achieved a net profit of CZK 13.8 billion, down by 10% year-on-year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) totaled CZK 33.1 billion, falling by CZK 2.4 billion year-on-year. This has primarily been caused by the lower exercise prices of produced electricity. This influence has resulted in a year-on-year decline of CZK 3.2 billion.

In accordance with the Updated National Energy Strategy, ČEZ is prepared to initiate the process of a comprehensive environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the planned construction of new units in the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant. Therefore, the company has today submitted to the Ministry of the Environment all the documents required to launch the EIA process. This is the first step in the company’s effort to fulfill the National Action Plan for the Development of Nuclear Energy to ensure the long-term energy self-sufficiency of the Czech Republic. The purpose of the EIA is to identify, describe and comprehensively assess foreseeable impacts of the planned projects on the environment and public health in the relevant context. The EIA is conducted in cases defined by law, always before all the requisite permits are obtained and before the actual project implementation begins. The European energy sector has been going through a period of significant changes and uncertainties, and ČEZ wants to be prepared for all options of future development.

Today the ČEZ Group officially filed a Request for Arbitration against the Republic of Bulgaria with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), by which it officially commenced international investment arbitration proceedings due to Bulgaria’s failure to observe the investment protection provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty. It decided to take this step following a number of actions of Bulgarian authorities damaging ČEZ companies in Bulgaria, causing the long-term critical situation on the local energy market that is not improving. The claim amounts to hundreds of millions of Euros.

CEZ Group’s net income in Q1 2016 was CZK 10bn, which is a 32% increase year-on-year. EBITDA grew by 5% year-on-year. The growth was achieved in spite of a further decrease in wholesale electricity prices, primarily thanks to the Company’s successful business strategy.