Brno prepares heat pipeline from Dukovany: CZK 17.8 billion, nuclear heat from 2032

The city of Brno wants about half of its district heating to come from the Dukovany nuclear power plant from 2032. Progress on the hot-water pipeline, estimated at CZK 17.8 billion, was outlined on 4 November in Ekonomický deník by Martin Šroubek, managing director of Teplárny Brno Distribuce, a newly created subsidiary of the heating company Teplárny Brno.

What has changed. TB Distribuce took over the primary network and the heat exchanger stations on 1 October, together with about 50 employees. Separating distribution from generation and sales was a condition for the subsidy. Nothing changes for customers: contracts remain valid.

The figures. The State Environmental Fund granted a subsidy of CZK 10.6 billion from emission allowance auction revenues, with TB Distribuce as the recipient. ČEZ is investing about CZK 3 billion in extracting heat from the plant. The route outside the city is about 42 kilometres long, from Dukovany to Bosonohy, and is being designed by AFRY CZ; around 53 kilometres are to be added within the city, according to oEnergetice.cz. According to e15, the project is to supply up to 2 million gigajoules a year to more than 100,000 households.

Context. According to Šroubek, the share of natural gas in the company's heat production will fall from 62% today to about 7%. Teplárny Brno and ČEZ signed an agreement on future heat supplies and an implementation agreement in March 2024.

What comes next. The documentation for selecting the contractor for the main route should be ready around the turn of 2026 and 2027; in 2027 come the contractor selection and land-rights preparation, followed by construction, trial operation and final approval.

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