ČEZ ESCO Helps Save Millions
44 ǀ POSITIV 3/2025
BUSINESS
ČEZ ESCO Helps Save Millions
More and more organisaons are turning to ČEZ ESCO’s services to reduce the energy demands
of their buildings and signicantly cut the operang costs. Through modernised lighng, energy
management, and comprehensive energy service projects with guaranteed savings, cies,
companies, and instuons are saving millions of crowns every year. We asked Kamil Čermák,
CEO of ČEZ ESCO, how these projects work and what they oer.
What does ČEZ ESCO offer
municipalities and regions in the field
of lighting?
Our customers-among towns, cities,
and regions- are long-term partners.
Across the country, there are thousands
of buildings with unnecessarily high
energy consumption, whose operators
end up paying millions more than they
should.
Fortunately, more and more public
institutions are aware of this issue
and are working with us, for example,
on modernising their lighting. In fact,
with our “public lighting for one crown”
programme, we have already surpassed
150 municipalities in the Czech Republic
that have chosen this saving solution from
ČEZ ESCO.
The “public lighting for one crown” scheme
enables towns and cities to acquire
and operate street lighting with minimal
upfront costs. For ten years they only pay
for the electricity consumed, and once
this period expires, they can purchase
the entire lighting system for 50–100 CZK
per fixture. The service also allows for
earlier buy-out, giving municipalities
flexibility and additional financial savings.
Our lighting solutions, including the “one
crown” model, are suitable not only
for towns and municipalities, but also
for operators of outdoor areas such
as hospitals, sports grounds, or even
industrial sites. What’s more, the intensity
of the lighting can be regulated—for
instance, at night during periods of lower
traffic it can be reduced to 50% of its
original power input, which translates into
further cost savings.
By the end of this year, ČEZ ESCO plans
to replace lighting in dozens more towns
and municipalities. Thanks to swapping
out old sodium lamps for LED lights, town
halls can save millions of crowns annually
on street lighting. On average, electricity
consumption for street lighting drops
by around 80% per year.
Comprehensive energy solutions –
How do EPC (Energy Performance
Contracting) projects work?
In simple terms, EPC projects are
comprehensive energy-saving measures
that cover the modernisation of buildings
in areas such as heating, lighting,
the construction of zero-emission power
sources, and water savings. EPC projects
are based on guaranteed savings, with
the contractor contractually committing
to a specific level of savings.
We are implementing such projects,
for example, in the Moravian-Silesian,
Pardubice, and Central Bohemian regions.
Large and smaller towns such as Havířov,
Mnichovo Hradiště, and certain districts
of Prague are already benefiting from EPC
projects. But it is not just municipalities—
EPC also generates annual savings of tens
of millions of crowns for institutions
such as the Prague Congress Centre,
Na Homolce Hospital, Mladá Boleslav
Hospital, the historic buildings of the
National Theatre, and the Rudolfinum.
In short, EPC is suitable for the vast majority
of buildings whose energy efficiency
was not a priority at the time of their
construction. In 2024 alone, nearly thirty
energy-saving projects with guaranteed
savings from ČEZ ESCO helped towns,
hospitals, cultural institutions, and industrial
enterprises cut their energy costs by 407
million CZK — about 15 million CZK more
than the previous year.
EPC projects usually also includes energy
management, which, thanks to continuous
monitoring of individual measures, is able
to identify additional savings and, over
the course of the EPC project, adjust
individual parameters to achieve even
greater financial savings or reduce CO
2
emissions.
New competences gained through
the acquisition of EL-ENG, and possible
acquisitions.
When ČEZ ESCO was founded
ten years ago, it consisted of three
companies focused on energy savings.
Today, there are nearly thirty, we have
2,500 employees, and last year’s EBITDA
reached 2.8 billion CZK — compared
to just 200 million CZK a decade ago.
Back then, much of our growth came
from acquisitions, whereas now it is mainly
organic, which is good news.
At this stage, ČEZ ESCO no longer needs
major acquisitions. From time to time,
we add smaller companies that strengthen
specific competencies. Our results today
are primarily built on synergies and organic
growth. A recent example is the company
EL-ENG. This family business from Holešov
in the Zlín region expands ČEZ ESCO’s
services with comprehensive electrical
installations and related services, which
are crucial for the development of the
building services engineering (BSE) sector.
The electrical installation segment was
something we were missing within our
Building Energy cluster. With this addition,
we can now deliver our projects even
more efficiently.