Solar Energy Investors Claim Czech Government Exaggerates Impact on Prices

Bloomberg
The Czech government is exaggerating how much solar energy subsidies will inflate power prices, according to a study for industry developers that criticizes a new law limiting support. The law, approved by parliament on Oct. 29, aims to cap electricity price increases and quell criticism that five-year-old legislation awarded too-generous incentives to investors in solar energy. The state energy regulator estimated 2011 power prices may jump 12 percent if no measures are taken. A pro- industry study by Prague-based law firm Glatzova said prices probably wouldn’t exceed 2.5 percent. (...) The incentives spurred a jump from 4.7 megawatts in 2007 to as much as 1,340 megawatts by September this year. (...) The government is also pushing for a 26 percent retroactive tax on solar energy producers and further fees for power plants built on agricultural land. A retroactive tax will provoke a backlash from investors who have poured money into solar power plants in the past few years, said Georg Hotar, co-owner and chief financial officer of Photon Energy AS, which develops and operates solar plants.“Any retroactive measures are bad in principle and will create bad faith among investors,” Hotar said in a telephone interview. “If this happens the state will be swamped in arbitration suits.”