We attended the CSEF conference in Bratislava

The Czech-Slovak Energy Forum took place this year on 13 and 14 October in our capital city. This representative and important event belongs to the professional conference calendar of every Czech-Slovak “electrician”. Next year we will all meet in Prague for a change.

Why CSEF?

The Czech-Slovak Energy Forum was established and operates as a platform to bring together all interest groups operating in the Czech-Slovak electricity sector. The Forum has set itself the goal of creating an impartial and balanced position ensuring the optimal functioning of the entire sector in the long term.

It is succeeding, and the culmination of this initiative’s efforts is the annual conference, which is a dynamic platform for lively and constructive discussion. Not only about the topics and challenges that all players on the electricity playing field need to approach together, but also about the results that have been achieved through collaboration.

CSEF 2021

The professional two-day conference had the motto: “Coal or UHLi? Or Uranium, Hydrogen, Lithium – Utopia or Reality?” The participants of the conference – 161 in total – did not flinch from this formulated topic and tackled it in 4 thematic blocks:

1. How do we mix the energy mix?

• Energy mix of the Czech Republic and Slovakia
• Fit for 55
• What does the end of coal mean for the Czech Republic in…?
• Modernisation Fund
• Mochovce NPP start-up 2022?

2. …and that legislation again

• New energy law
• New regulatory period

3. New Energy

• Aggregators and business models of the new energy
• Modern energy – benefits for the customer
• Readiness of distribution networks for new energy – what is still missing?

4. The European Single Electricity Market

• Development of the integration of the daily market from the perspective of the Slovak Republic
• Development of the integration of the intraday market and the regulated energy market from the perspective of the Czech Republic
• Capacity mechanism in Poland and possibilities for cross-border participation

What did the Czech-Slovak Energy Forum 2021 bring?

30 speakers and discussants from the Czech and Slovak energy industry led by experienced moderators presented a diverse range of opinions, expert information, as well as topics for polemics and expert debate.

They discussed, among other things, the impact of the current increase in energy prices on the functioning of the energy sector and the related potential solutions to the withdrawal of energy suppliers from the Czech and Slovak markets.

The conference also resonated with other topics that move but also shake the Czech and Slovak energy sector, including the expected changes in legislation and regulation or the possible future direction of the European and global energy market, but also the necessity to prepare the technological base so that we are truly “Fit for 55”.

Despite the maximum representativeness – in terms of patrons, partners and participants, the CSEF was the right open, informal and dynamic space for expert debates on the most topical issues of the Czech-Slovak energy space. Even with overlaps beyond the borders of our two republics.

In spite of many things in common historically, as well as technically and technologically, our countries have different positions in the field of energy. Slovakia can already boast that it is a “carbon-free country” with almost 95% of its electricity generation being carbon-free, with a view to increasing this share.

In their presentations as well as in the panel discussions, the experts predicted and discussed the possible and in many ways inevitable direction of the energy sector towards the need for regulation or deregulation of new institutes, aggregation, flexibility, new balance groups or the use of batteries and digitalization.

Cooperation must continue

Not a single light bulb would be lit in the energy sector without the cooperation of all players and actors. The annual conference Czech-Slovak Energy Forum 2021 showed once again how important and beneficial mutual cooperation and respect in the energy sector is.