Without gas and coal. An ecological district should be created in Prague in a few years
A heating project worth more than two billion
“The Energocentra project has been in the making for about two years. It uses the heat of waste water that is treated on Císařská ostrov. Every second, three cubic meters of treated wastewater leaves the treatment plant, which has a temperature of more than ten degrees even in the coldest months. We have a huge opportunity to use this water to obtain heat for up to a third of Prague,” plans Deputy Mayor of Prague Petr Hlaváček.
The creators of the project were inspired in Denmark and Sweden.
Prague without dependence on Russian gas
The construction of the Energocenter and the supply of technical infrastructure networks should cost 2.3 billion crowns. But the city is counting on the participation of investors. In the future, the Energocentrum in Bubench should supply heat and cooling to the Vltava Philharmonic, which will be built by the river near the Vltavská metro station.
However, this is only one of the options for heating the new Prague quarter. The developed study also considers the possibility of using the current conventional heat supply from the system, as is the case with most apartments in the capital.
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“It is important to prepare all the technical conditions for the proper development of the district in advance. The use of waste water for the production of heat is one of the fundamental projects that resonate even more strongly in today’s socio-political situation. This would create a self-sufficient district in Prague that would be climate neutral,” says Ondřej Boháč, director of the Institute of Planning and Development (IPR), who is in charge of the project.
The city council entrusted IPR with the coordination of the development of the technical infrastructure in Bubne based on the mentioned study. The representatives of the institute are looking for a suitable solution together with the companies PREdistribuce, the Prague water management company, Prague waterworks and sewers, Kolektory Praha, Pražská teplárenská and Pražská plynárenská.
Living like in Codyna or Vienna
“The most important thing for us was to unite the larger part of the city, between which today lies the huge area of brownfield. At the same time, we wanted a public space for the residents of both parts to be created in the place where Holešovice and Letná connect. There should therefore be a large park there in the future,” said architect Ivan Reimann.
It is the planting of trees and other greenery that is supposed to contribute to an environment-friendly district following the example of European cities such as Copenhagen or Vienna. However, the project has been criticized in the past for high costs, insufficient green space, greater burden on the adjacent neighborhoods of Letná and Holešovice, and the risk that ordinary residents will not be able to afford the new apartments.
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The same criticism is leveled at another brownfield in Prague, on which new apartments are being built, namely the Žižkov Freight Station.