Households face another problem: Coal has also started to become significantly more expensive

But current growth may not be definitive. At the end of the year, another wave of price increases is likely to arrive. “It is necessary to take into account that the average annual price could approach 30,000,” Kovanda estimates.

Customers have already responded to reports of rising prices. The sellers have their hands full. “There are a lot of orders now, we had to strengthen coal deliveries. And more and more customers are still increasing, “describes the situation of the CEO of Palivo-Pavlíkov in the Central Bohemian Region Michal Šarlingr. However, he adds with one breath that the onslaught is not only caused by rising prices, but also by the postponement of the so-called last-minute purchase.

According to other sellers, it is still true that coal is bought mainly in the spring. “Many regular customers are already pre-stocked. Now those who do not have large storage facilities buy coal or postpone the purchase due to financial reasons, “comments Eva Buťová, the owner of Buťa Warehouse in the village of Ostrov in the Karlovy Vary Region.

There is no risk of supply outages

Despite the rapidly increased demand, there is no danger of outages in coal supplies to retailers’ warehouses. “In recent years, we have tried to change consumer behavior. That is, so that people buy coal not only at the beginning of the heating season, but also in spring or summer and pre-stock themselves so that stocks are not bought up in warehouses. We think that we succeeded, “says Lukáš Kopecký, a spokesman for Severočeské doly.

The group of companies belonging to the company Sev.en Energy AG does not anticipate problems with coal supplies either. “At present, although we are seeing enormous interest in coal suitable for households, we still have a sufficient supply of coal. However, we assume that the interest in coal will be even higher, “adds company spokeswoman Eva Maříková.

Record-expensive emission allowances have a large share in the rise in the price of coal. While last year it was still about five hundred crowns, this year it is three times more expensive. Climatic conditions also played a role in raising prices. There was little wind in Europe. “This means that the production of electricity from wind farms is insufficient. It must be replaced by electricity produced from gas. But even that is not enough. After last year’s relatively long and heavy winter, gas storage tanks have not been replenished in Europe. So Europe and with it the world is looking for the last salvation in coal, “explains Kovanda, adding that precisely because of this development, world coal prices have doubled this year.

However, coal is still one of the cheaper sources of heating. Lower costs are only for wood heating. It also becomes more expensive, but not so quickly. At the end of 2020, a cubic meter of firewood cost 423 crowns, now the average price is 480 crowns. However, it is still a price much lower than the price for which the wood was sold at the beginning of 2019 – then it was 722 crowns.

In the Czech Republic, about four hundred thousand households heat the house with coal, of which three hundred thousand are heated in first and second emission class boilers. The operation of these boilers will be banned from September 1, 2022. People will have to invest in new, more efficient and, above all, more environmentally friendly ones, or completely change the way of heating. Anyone who continues to operate an unsatisfactory boiler can receive a fine of up to 50,000 crowns, even repeatedly.

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