Two big Czech companies will battle over EU subsidies for gas storage facilities. RWE Transgas, the main gas importer in the Czech Republic, will face off with Moravské naftové doly, which is part of KKCG group, owned by Karel Komárek. Both companies confirmed in an interview with E15 their interest earlier this week, saying they already have specific plans. The EUR 35 million will be divided among Czech applicants directly by the European Commission.
RWE Transgas has already sent its two projects to Brussels for expanding gas storage facilities in Tvrdonice. The total investment is expected to be CZK 7 billion, which means the EU grant can only cover part of the costs because the total amount of grant money set aside for the Czech Republic is just under CZK 1 billion. “We are working on these projects and waiting if part of the funds will come from the EU,” said RWE Transgas spokesman Martin Chalupský. KKCG marketing director Daniel Plovajko confirmed the interest of Moravské naftové doly in the project. He says the company is prepared to invest in either expanding its own storage facilities in Moravia or in constructing new ones.
The Czech Republic will get money for the storage facilities as part of an EU crisis package. The goal of the financial injection is to not only boost public investment, but also to reinforce energy security, following the gas crisis at the beginning of this year.
The European Council has already approved the entire EUR 5 billion package designed to boost the economy, but it has yet to be approved by the European parliament, which should happen at the beginning of May.
Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Martin Tlapa says the Czech EU presidency is now holding procedural negotiations with MEPs in the name of the European Council. But no one has cast any doubt on the planned subsidies for gas storage facilities. MEPs in the industrial division only had reservations about the financial support of underground storage facilities for CO2, something that does not affect the Czech Republic.
Ferran Tarradellas Espuny, spokesman for the European commissioner for energy, told E15 earlier this week that the European Commission will provide the subsidies through grants. One of the key conditions for awarding a grant, according to Espuny, is that the project be far along in the planning stage. The crisis aid should take effect as soon as possible and the subsidies will be paid out by the end of 2010 at the latest. It was this condition that the project be far along that could place smaller Czech companies at a disadvantage, according to available information. It is also possible, however, that Czech companies will form a consortium and ask for the EU subsidies jointly. Martin Tlapa says that the Czech EU presidency will negotiate with MEPs about their conditions regarding the control of how the various projects benefiting from the crisis package are carried out. If the money intended for certain specific projects is not spent, MEPs say it should be channelled into other projects. This could be advantageous for the Czech Republic.
The plan to significantly increase gas storage facilities in the Czech Republic has been forming for a while and is not tied to financial aid from the EU. For instance, RWE Transgas wants to increase the capacity of its storage facilities by a third, to more than 3 billion cubic metres of gas. That is more than a third of the Czech Republic’s annual consumption.
