The Technical University of Ostrava is preparing a center for energy technologies

Ostrava – A Center for Energy and Environmental Technologies will be established at VŠB - Technical University of Ostrava for approximately 280 million crowns. The facility could be completed in 2024. Next year, it will be the second largest investment project by the university after the construction of the Faculty of Economics, which began a few days ago on the campus. This was stated by the university spokesperson Petra Halíková.

"The center will be located in the middle of the Poruba campus and will connect with the buildings of heavy and light laboratories that are in this area. The campus is divided into functional units, with some areas allocated for teaching, others for laboratories or sports facilities, accommodation, and so on. This center will essentially focus on technology transfer related to sustainable energy. It is connected to the transformation of the region," said Halíková. She added that in the case of this center, the building itself is not so significant, but primarily the technologies that will be in it. "The building will practically just be a shell for those technologies, and there will also be a hydrogen charger next to it. The facility will have a combination of various technologies for researching different alternative fuels," Halíková said. The center will also focus on the issues of energy accumulation and distribution.

"Within the center, photovoltaic systems, wind power plants, heat pumps, hydrogen sources, and so on should be addressed. The funding for the construction of the center will be a combination of internal sources, regional funds, and grants from European funds. The total cost is expected to exceed 280 million crowns, but a significant portion of those costs will be for the technologies themselves," stated the spokesperson. She added that the building itself will not be so expensive; initially, there was even consideration of using a container solution for the center. "Ultimately, however, it was decided to construct a four-story building without a basement, along with another building for the hydrogen station, because hydrogen is a significant topic for us. It is an area we want to focus on a lot in the future," specified Halíková.

The center could be completed in 2024, provided the conditions are favorable. "One aspect is the construction of the building itself, but it will be more challenging to equip it with those technologies. Often, these are unique devices or those customized for specific needs," noted the spokesperson.