Minister Síkela: The state will help Prague with energy projects
photo: Rudolf Komár, PrahaIN.cz/Jozef Síkela
The state will help the capital city with the construction of an energy center in Bubench and support the energy-saving transformation of the Žižkov Freight Station area in Prague 3. By 2030, these plans could be launched and their operation started.
Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Síkela (for STAN) told journalists today. According to an earlier statement by Prague’s Deputy Mayor for Territorial Development, Petr Hlaváček (for TOP 09), the energy center at the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant could heat up to a third of Prague with the help of powerful pumps. The development of the railway station is being prepared by Prague with the Prague 3 Town Hall together with private investors.
“At the Ministry of Industry and Trade, we decided to help with these projects. Together with the representatives of the capital city of Prague, we created a working group, which together with the development of the group and solutions to the problems that complicate it, said Síkela.
According to Hlaváček, the management of the Prague municipality wants to reduce the city’s dependence on Russian gas supplies. “We want to combine the potential of sewage water, the potential of the Vltava and future improvements to the waste incinerator,” he said. Today, according to the Square, the heat sources in Prague are 61 percent natural gas, 27 percent purchased heat and nine percent electricity. Three percent comes from other sources.
According to Hlaváček, Prague is now preparing the construction of an energy center where sewage water from the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant would be used. In the first phase, large-capacity heat pumps will be used, which will obtain thermal energy for supply to Juliska and Veleslavín in Prague 6 and Holešovice and Bubne in Prague 7. According to the deputy, Řepy and Západní Město should be connected in the second phase. I am counting on the connection to the collector network and possible further expansion.
According to the deputy mayor of Prague 3, Pavel Dobeš, the goal is to introduce energy-saving solutions for heating the buildings that were built in the Žižkov Freight Station area. An area of 60 hectares should be developed. Prague is now preparing the necessary changes to the spatial plan. In the area of the railway station, which has been a cultural monument since 2013, according to Dobeš, cultural and social spaces should be created in the future, including the headquarters of the National Film Archive, two new elementary and five kindergartens, a polyclinic and residential facilities for the elderly. Development companies such as Sekyra Group, Central Group and Penta Real Estate want to build apartment buildings and commercial premises there. The new urban district is designed for up to 23,000 inhabitants.
The station was built between 1931 and 1935 and ceased to function in 2002. The fate of the Žižkov Freight Station has been debated for years. it was originally supposed to give way to construction, but after pressure from activists, the demolition was cancelled.
In Europe, according to Síkela, 40 percent of energy is used for heating buildings. According to him, energy consumption for heating in the Czech Republic is the highest in Europe. At the same time, the Czech Republic imports most of its gas from Russia, and according to Síla, the government is therefore preparing, among other things, the development of community energy, multi-source support for the development of heat pumps and support for energy consulting on how to reduce individual consumption to overcome the energy crisis.