Circular economy is a top environmental priority for the Czech Republic

Caspian Energy (CE): What are your ministry’s key priorities for boosting industrial growth and innovation in Czechia?

Petr Hladík, Minister for the Environment of the Czech Republic: The Czech green modernization creates opportunities for everyone, and it is important that we make the most of them. It will have a positive impact on both the quality of life of our citizens and the state of the environment. It will also bring many new and much-needed opportunities for business and industry. Czech companies, of course, need green energy from renewable sources, and if there is not enough of it domestically, they will buy it abroad. We need to modernize Czech industry, energy and heating systems in a pragmatic way.

Green modernization offers opportunities to companies and Czech industry. It enables them to keep up with the competition and expand into foreign markets. Businesses can develop innovations and modernize their operations, and several programmes support the research and development of new technologies to help kick-start businesses. Investment in energy efficiency and savings is needed, as is the gradual replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources.

The Ministry of the Environment supports the smart transformation of the Czech energy sector, with a particular focus on decarbonization, decentralization, digitalization, and democratization. We promote the development of renewable energy sources (RES), including small, decentralized installations, as well as energy communities and the concept of active customers. The concept of an active customer is centered on communities, households, or companies that share produced electricity through a public transmission grid. These developments present significant opportunities for the industrial sector in the production of modern energy technologies.

More broadly, we support reducing energy intensity in industry and changing the energy carriers used to more environmentally friendly ones, such as hydrogen applications and the electrification of industrial processes. We also aim to promote the use of waste heat with various potential applications in industry.