Power engineers have completed construction of the Czech Republic’s largest photovoltaic power plant that serves as a car park roof, on the exterior premises of the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant. It is the first of a series of large emission-free projects of the ČEZ Group, whereby the company contributes to the achievement of the Czech Republic’s climatic goals and commitments.
With a capacity of 831 kilowatts-peak (kWp), this new zero-emission source will generate approximately 850 megawatts-hour (MWh) of electricity per year, which covers the annual consumption of nearly 300 households.
“The Czech Republic’s goal is to increase the share of renewable sources of energy in overall consumption by 22 per cent by 2030,” said Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček. “There are 50 to 100 billion crowns [1.9-3.9 billion euros] earmarked for photovoltaics in the modernisation fund. Photovoltaics on the site of the Dukovany power plant is a very innovative concept. We believe that there will soon be many more such examples.”
“The new rooftop power plant at the parking lot in Dukovany is also a symbol of the future of the Czech energy sector – nuclear and solar zero-emission sources will be generating electricity here side by side,” added Daniel Beneš, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of ČEZ. “In addition to boosting power generation from renewable sources, we are also improving the traffic situation and parking capacity at Dukovany. The power plant will organically cover a roof area that would otherwise stay unused.”
The underside of the panel is newly utilised, as well. Thanks to light reflection from the parked cars, these panels generate up to 25 per cent more clean electricity than regular panels, meaning that to achieve identical capacity, the power plant takes up a far smaller area.
Additionally, the parking lot includes three new public charging stations for electric cars fed exclusively from the production of an emission-free nuclear source.
