Last chance to replace an old boiler with a new one almost for free

After the first two waves, the City of Ostrava will actively support the third wave of boiler grants for the replacement of obsolete boilers for new, modern ones. It thus contributes to reducing the environmental burden from local sources, especially in the winter.

People living in family houses can use the boiler grant to replace their existing hand-filled solid fuel boilers that do not meet the requirements of at least class 3 for new efficient low-emission heat sources. This time, too, the city will provide the owners of family houses in the city with a contribution of CZK 10,000. With the city’s contribution, the citizens can get a grant of up to CZK 145,000.

“In the third wave of the boiler grant scheme we want to motivate more people to replace their obsolete boilers. It is these local sources that contribute a third of the pollution in our city. All those who use emission class 1 and 2 solid fuel boilers should not wait and replace them as soon as possible, since such boilers will become prohibited in 2022. Households have the last chance to use the money provided by the State, city and region, ideally without using their own funds. It should be reminded that every replaced boiler means approximately 60 to 100 kilograms of dust per year not emitted into the air”, said Deputy Mayor of the Environment Kateřina Šebestová.

With the forthcoming third phase of boiler grants, the State will launch a pilot project in the Moravian-Silesian, Karlovy Vary and Ústí Regions. Low-income people will get money in advance for the replacement of their dirty boilers. Those interested in purchasing a more environmentally-friendly type of heating will get a no-interest loan for the purchase of a boiler. Applicants will receive the full amount to purchase the new boiler in advance. After the purchase, the grant is deducted from the debt and the remaining amount will be paid by the applicants without any interest.

Ostrava is one of the few cities that have previously provided interest-free loans to applicants (100% of the regional grant) to cover the period between the approval of the grant and its subsequent payment. It also contributes up to CZK 10,000 to applicants who own a family house in the city.

The regional grant programme, where applicants in the Moravian-Silesian Region will be able to submit their applications for a boiler replacement grant, will be announced in April 2019 at the earliest. The deadline for the receipt of grant applications is no earlier than May 2019.

So far, a total of 1,479 boilers have been requested to be replaced in Ostrava. In the years 2012–2015, several calls, the so-called old boiler grants, were announced for the replacement of solid fuel boilers located in family houses.  As part of these grants, 266 boilers were replaced in the city. In December 2015, the first call for “boiler grants in the Moravian-Silesian Region” was announced, with applications submitted in February 2016. In total, the Moravian-Silesian Region approved 422 applications from Ostrava residents. Until now, the replacement of 363 boilers in the total amount of CZK 5.3 million was supported under this call. 791 applications from Ostrava were submitted in the second boiler grant call from June 2017. On 16 October 2018 the receipt of applications was suspended after the submission of the 10,000th application.