A joint project of the Prague 19 district (Kbely

A joint project

of the Prague 19 district (Kbely) and the Pražská plynárenská a.s.

IN THE CITY DISTRICT OF THE PRAGUE 19 - KBELY DISTRICT (AS THE MAYOR PAVEL ŽDÁRSKÝ LIKES TO SAY, THE SMALLEST CITY DISTRICT IN PRAGUE, WHICH HAS ITS OWN NUMBER), THEY HAVE A LONG-TERM PROBLEM WITH THE QUALITY OF HEAT SUPPLY. IN THE HEATING SEASON 2019/2020, THE HEAT SUPPLIER HAD MORE THAN 20 FAILURES ON THE PRIMARY FEEDER FOR KBELY, WHICH RESULTED IN AN INTERRUPTION OF HEAT SUPPLY. THE KBELY HEAT CONTROL IS MORALLY AND TECHNICALLY OBSOLETE.

This results in large heat losses and a high price of heat for the inhabitants. The situation regarding Kbely‘s heat management has become unsustainable and the mayor, together with other representatives of the city district, has faced a diffi cult question how to further address this unsatisfactory situation, what to do for safe and quality heat supply and comfort of Kbely residents.

Coincidentally, a project to build a new city sports hall was underway at the same time. Here, too, they had to solve the heating system, and in the end, they decided to heat the new hall with a gas boiler room. The tender for the construction of a gas boiler room was won by Prometheus energetické služby, a.s. member of the group Pražská plynárenská a.s. Prometheus off ered a solution in the form of a so-called energy contract, not only to implement the gas boiler on a turnkey basis, but it also ensured its fi nancing and its operation, including the subsequent production and supply of thermal energy.

However, the concept of Kbely total heating was a signifi cantly bigger problem, as the mayor says. This is a decision for many years to come, and our main goal was to improve the quality of life of our inhabitants, when we wanted to provide them with a safe and trouble-free heat supply and to reduce heat costs. Heat costs can represent more than 50% of a normal household‘s budget. We worked on the preparation of the concept for more than a year and the events from the last heating season only confi rmed the need for a quick solution to the reconstruction of the heat supply. When preparing the concept, we addressed specialists, for example, we cooperated with an energy expert Mr. Ing. Jiří Gavor, CSc.

Within the working group, we fi nally concluded that it would be ideal to disconnect from the existing district heat supply and convert the completely morally and technically obsolete heat management to natural gas. Regarding Kbely‘s budgetary possibilities, the entry of a strategic energy partner was recommended. Based on the evaluation of various variants of cooperation, a model of establishing a joint venture with a renowned energy company was fi nally chosen, which best met the set goals and requirements, namely long-term heat sustainability while maintaining control by the city district.

Here again, the cooperation with Prometheus was useful, which we tested during the construction of the new city sports hall, where the cooperation went without any problems and everything Prometheus promised was kept. For us, Prometheus is a natural partner for the establishment of a joint venture; unlike private energy companies, it is 100% owned by the City of Prague, which owns it through Pražská plynárenská a.s.

After demanding preparations, on Thursday, October 22, 2020, after more than 18 months of negotiations, which were so long due to the COVID - 19 pandemic in the spring, Prometheus, energetické služby, a.s. has signed a shareholder agreement with the City District of Prague 19 - Kbely. The joint venture will be called Teplo pro Kbely a.s. (Heat for Kbely).

The ownership arrangements in the joint venture are as follows. Kbely owns a 25% stake, representing a contribution of assets (exchan-

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Yes, this project is primarily focused on the quality of heat supply. The existing district heating infrastructure was built in the fi rst half of the 1990s and is almost 30 years old, which of course aff ects the quality and effi ciency of its operation. As part of our project, we will rebuild practically the entire system, anew. During the reconstruction of the heat system, new heat pipes with eff ective insulation will be built. Block boiler rooms will consist of a cascade of boilers that will be able to represent each other in the event of an outage. The entire system will be connected to a modern control room, which will constantly evaluate the operation and monitor fault conditions. The service life of the entire system will again be at least 30 years.

: What about downtime?

The advantage of gas boilers is that they practically do not need downtime. If something needs to be repaired, the repair takes hours and people don‘t even know something is going on.

ger stations, boiler rooms and heat distribution) with a total value of CZK 5,693,850. Prometheus owns a 75% stake in the amount of CZK 17,081,550, which will primarily serve for the reconstruction of heat network.

The Board of Directors of the joint venture will consist of representatives from the Pražská plynárenská a.s. The Supervisory Board will be staff ed by representatives of the Kbely City District.

The Teplo pro Kbely a.s. will supply the inhabitants of this district with approx. 28k GJ of thermal energy per year. The project is also focused on ecology. The existing heat supplied to Kbely is produced in the Mělník lignite power plant. The new boiler rooms will be equipped with modern gas condensing boilers, which meet the strictest emission limits. At the same time, sources for combined heat and power generation and technologies using renewable sources, such as photovoltaic panels, will be connected to the system. We expect the ecological benefi t of the project to save up to 3,200 tons of CO2 per year after the completion of the entire project.

: You‘re investing min. CZK 60 million and Chairman of the Board will make the heat cheaper for the inhabiof Directors of the newly tants of Kbely, is it possible?

established company Teplo If this were not possible, we would not be pro Kbely a.s. became able to commit to this in the shareholder agreIng. Ludvík Baleka, with whom ement with the Kbely district. This contract states that the price of heat will fall by at least we had the following interview: 17% compared to 2019 for citizens who will already be connected to gas boiler rooms. +PP : How long will you implement the project of transition from coal to greener gas? The construction of gas boilers, heat exchanger stations and the renewal of hot water distribution will take two to three years. : How much do you plan to invest in Kbely? So far, we plan to invest at least CZK 60 million. More than CZK 50 million will be provided by our company, of which CZK 33 million will go directly to the construction of new sources, CZK 17 million, our contribution to the joint venture, will be used to modernize the heating distribution system. The remaining funds will be covered by the loan. : Will this solve the reliability of heat supply for the inhabitants of Kbely? INTRODUCTION Prometheus a.s. member of the Pražská plynárenská, a.s.: Prometheus, energetické služby, a.s., a member of the Pražská plynárenská, a.s. has been operating in the energy services market for 25 years. The company is 100% owned by Pražská plynárenská, a.s. Prometheus operates more than 170 boiler rooms and supplies heat to 10,000 households in Prague, the Central Bohemian Region, and other regions of the Czech Republic. It off ers a solution to the so-called energy contract, where boiler plants are built, fi nanced, operated and heat is supplied. Prometheus is also involved in combined heat and power.