We have already informed you about the process of adopting the amendment generally referred to as “Lex Gas” in previous months. Now the legislative process of adopting “Lex Gas” has been completed and the individual changes introduced by “Lex Gas” have become part of the legal system of the Czech Republic, as “Lex Gas” was published in the Collection of Laws as Act No. 223/2025 Coll. on 30 June 2025. This amendment brought changes namely to the Act No. 416/2009 Coll., on accelerating the construction of strategically important infrastructure (hereinafter referred to as the “Line Act“), Act No. 165/2012 Coll., on supported energy sources (hereinafter referred to as the “RES Act“) and Act No. 406/2000 Coll., on energy management (hereinafter referred to as the “ZoHE“). It is these changes that we will highlight in this document.

First of all, Section 34 of the Energy Act has been amended, which regulates the obligation of electricity producers to inform the transmission system operator (hereinafter referred to as “ČEPS“) about the termination of the operation of electricity generation plants at least 11 months in advance.  The provision in question was inserted into the Energy Act by the amendment “Lex RES III” and was supposed to apply to all power plants with an installed capacity of 10 MW or more, whereas “Lex Gas” leaves this obligation only for operators of larger power plants with an installed capacity of 100 MW or more.

However, the basic principle remains the same – in the event of a notification of the termination of the operation of an electricity generation plant within the meaning of Section 34 of the Energy Act, ČEPS has the power to assess the individual impacts of the termination of the operation of the electricity generation plant on the security and reliability of the electricity system and may recommend that the operation of the electricity generation plant be continued. This recommendation is forwarded by ČEPS to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (hereinafter referred to as the “MPO“), the Energy Regulatory Office (hereinafter referred to as the “ERÚ“) and the operator of the electricity generation plant in question. In such a case, ČEPS also forwards a draft contract on the service for the provision of power (hereinafter referred to as the “power supply contract”) to the latter two entities. ERÚ is entitled to impose on the operator of the electricity generation plant an obligation beyond the scope of the license within the meaning of Section 12 of the Energy Act, in this case the obligation to continue to operate the electricity generation plant remains, even if the operator intended to terminate its operation. If the original operator refuses to enter into the power supply contract in the form proposed by ČEPS, ERÚ may instead impose the obligation to operate the generating plant on another holder of the electricity production license. In both cases, the power supply contract governs certain rights and obligations of the respective holder of the electricity production license that has been imposed with an obligation beyond the scope of the license. The price under the power supply contract is determined administratively by ERÚ, taking into account the demonstrable losses and reasonable profit associated with the continued operation of the generation plant. Based on the above, the power supply contract has also been classified as one of the different types of contracts concluded by electricity market participants in the provision of Section 50(13) of the Energy Act. The purpose of this mechanism is to ensure sufficient electricity production capacity in the short term, in the context of the possible closure of certain (especially coal-fired) sources. The above-mentioned mechanism in its final form under “Lex Gas” is already effective as of 1 July 2025.

As already mentioned, “Lex Gas” also amends the Line Act. The most important changes are related to the definition of so-called “energy security structures”, whereby “Lex Gas” now also includes gas-fired power generation plants with a total installed capacity of 100 MW or more and gas-fired power generation plants with a total installed capacity of 15 MW or more. The Line Act provides numerous “concessions” to such energy security structures, in particular in the field of permitting processes under the Act No. 283/2021 Coll., the Construction Act (hereinafter referred to as the “CA“) and related environmental legislation.

The subject of the changes is therefore, for example, a shortening of deadlines – binding opinions or statements must be issued within 20 days of the date of receipt of the application or request by the competent authority, and the unified environmental statement (hereinafter referred to as the “UES“) for gas-fired power generation plants with a total installed capacity of 100 MW or more must be issued within 40 days. “Lex Gas” also makes it impossible for the competent authority to extend the time limit for issuing the zoning and construction permit or the UES. Proceedings in relation to construction plans for energy security structures are also to be conducted on a “priority basis” and are to be considered as proceedings with a large number of participants, which is to further simplify the delivery of procedural documents. These are welcome changes, but they may run into a harsh reality – given the staffing load of the Transport and Energy Construction Authority (hereinafter referred to as the “DESÚ“), these changes may not have the desired impact on simplifying and speeding up the permitting process. However, only subsequent practice will show whether this will be the case. The various amendments to the Line Act come into force on 1 August 2025.

“Lex Gas” also changes the ZoHE, in particular in relation to the topic of so-called “wasters” of electricity. From 1 August 2025 onwards, it will not be possible to provide negative flexibility services through a device that consumes electricity unless there is efficient further use of the electricity consumed by such a device, i.e. if the “waster” converts electricity into for example thermal energy, such thermal energy must be further efficiently used. Failure to comply with this requirement shall be punishable by a fine of up to CZK 5,000,000.

For the sake of completeness, we would like to remind you of the information shared with you at the end of last week in the form of one of our NewsFlashes. The system of self-assessment of the adequacy of the support granted to solar power plants (hereinafter referred to as “PV plants“) put into operation in the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2010, which was introduced by one of the amendment to “Lex RES III”, has been completely abolished by “Lex Gas” and Part 4 of Title VII of the RES Act has been completely excluded from the RES Act. The system of self-assessment will therefore not be relevant.

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This material is for general information on current topics only, it is not advice. It does not take into account any special circumstances, financial situations or special requirements of the addressees. Recipients should therefore always seek appropriate professional services for the information provided. Notwithstanding the careful compilation of this material, bpv Braun Partners s.r.o. advokáti, its partners, associates or co-operating solicitors and tax advisers cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein and accepts no responsibility for acting or refraining from acting on the basis of the information contained in this material.