BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.17
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Czech Republic needs to improve the functioning of the wholesale gas market, notably by integrating its wholesale market with the wholesale markets of neighbouring countries, thereby creating a more liquid and competitive market with multiple supply sources, Trend reports with reference to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The IEA believes that the country should provide guidance on the future of gas infrastructure projects, which are aimed to further improve the interconnectivity of the Czech gas transmission system with the gas transmission systems of its neighbouring countries.
“Czech Republic needs to set out a long-term road map for natural gas, focusing on the role natural gas can play in the phase-out of coal, and taking into account longer term opportunities of replacing natural gas with sustainable gases, hydrogen and other renewable energy sources,” said the agency.
Over the past ten years, natural gas consumption in the Czech Republic has fluctuated between 7 bcm and 9 bcm per year, depending mainly on weather conditions, as natural gas is to a large extent used for heating.
“This is also reflected by the seasonal pattern of the gas consumption, with high levels of consumption in the winter and low levels in the summer. The Czech Republic has a small domestic gas production of around 0.13 bcm per year. As increased production is unlikely, in the future most natural gas consumed in the country will need to be imported. Industry has the highest share of natural gas consumption, fluctuating at around 30 percent. The next largest group is the residential sector, with a share of around 25 percent. Over the past ten years, the number of natural gas consumers has shown a slow, but steady decline, from around 2 870 000 in 2010 to 2 835 000 in 2019. In 2019, around 24 percent of natural gas was used for electricity and heat production, and natural gas represented 6 percent of gross electricity generation. The past decade has, however, seen a steady increase in the share of electricity generation from natural gas, from 2 percent in 2010 to 7 percent in 2019,” said the IEA.
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