Insulation, pumps, solar power. The Czech government has scrapped the programme, and funding has dropped by 70%
12. 8. 2026 / Petr Waniek Horváth
Photo: the current controversial Czech PM, the oligarch Andrej Babiš
For years, the New Green Savings programme was one of the Czech government’s most successful initiatives. It helped people lower their utility bills, increased the value of their homes, and had clear environmental benefits. Thanks to the subsidy, a typical family living in an older home could afford insulation that they would otherwise have put off for years—the subsidy covered roughly 30 to 50% of the costs, heating bills dropped by a third, and the home’s value rose by more than 10%.
The program worked until this Czech government overhauled it beyond recognition. The Ministry of the Environment is now controlled by the [crazy] "Motorists for Themselves" party: it was first led by Petr Macinka, a longtime associate of [former Czech extreme right wing PM] Václav Klaus, and then by Igor Červený. The management style hasn’t changed, but unqualified people are replacing experts—including, for example, a warehouse worker and an 18-year-old influencer. The result is immediately apparent: interest in the program has plummeted to less than a third of its original level.
How the program worked before
“New Green Savings” was based on a simple principle: the state provided grants to people for energy-saving home renovations. These were not loans, but non-repayable grants that covered part of the costs of insulation, window replacement, solar panels, or a heat pump.
A family with an old house and high utility bills could afford to insulate the facade thanks to the subsidy. Their bills dropped by tens of percent, and the value of their home increased. Homeowners with coal-fired boilers could switch to a heat pump, and the subsidy covered a large portion of the investment; operating costs fell, and local emissions disappeared.
The program was funded by emissions allowances. Money collected from polluters was returned to people in the form of energy savings. Logical, fair, and effective.
As recently as 2025, over 1,058 applications were being submitted each week—more than 54,000 projects annually, with a total requested subsidy of 27.5 billion crowns.
What the Current Babiš Government Did
The government halted the program, overhauled it, and introduced a system that discouraged people.
It eliminated direct subsidies for most households and replaced them with interest-free loans. But a loan is not a subsidy. It’s a debt that households must repay. In times of economic uncertainty, people do not want to go into debt—and certainly not for an investment that will take years to pay off.
On top of that, new administrative hurdles have been added: the renovation passport, mandatory energy performance certificates (PENB), unclear methodologies, and unclear parameters for banking products. The result is chaos in which neither applicants nor banks can find their way.
And the fundamental problem is funding. Allocations from emission allowances have dropped to zero. While the implementation plan anticipated that the New Green Savings programme would receive 25% of revenue from allowances (approximately 3.7 billion CZK), the 2026 budget proposal allocated 0 CZK to the program—without explanation, without analysis, and without compensation.
Furthermore, the program was suspended for nearly eight months—from November 2025 to the end of June 2026. When it reopened, only 1,759 applications were received in six weeks—roughly 28% of the original pace.
Numbers That Speak for Themselves
Previously, 1,058 applications were received per week. Now, the number is around 300—a 72% decline.
Of the 1,759 applications, the largest share was for New Green Savings Light programme (777 applications), but this does not represent the majority. The program’s pace has simply dropped to one-third of what it was.
Why These Grants Are Important
The Czech Republic has one of the oldest housing stocks in the EU; the average age of buildings is around 50 years. Insulation, window replacement, and heating system modernization—all of these significantly reduce energy consumption and, consequently, household bills.
Renovations also increase property value. According to available sources, this increase is 15–25% for comprehensive renovations and “more than 20%” for the insulation of apartment buildings. Subsidies are therefore not a “gift,” but an investment in citizens’ assets.
And that is precisely why it is absurd that the government cut off funding for the program from emissions allowance revenues. These were supposed to be its main source of funding. Instead, the funds vanished into the budget, and people were told to take out loans.
Impact on Citizens
Higher energy bills, rising energy poverty, stalled projects, deteriorating technical condition of buildings, and a decline in property values. Renovations are not an “environmental fad,” but an investment that has a direct impact on living standards.
When the state dismantles this mechanism, it is not just acting against the environment. It is acting against the people.
The New Green Savings Program was one of the few tools that had a real impact on households’ lives. The current government has transformed it into a dysfunctional system that discourages people rather than motivating them. A 70 percent drop in applications is not a “success,” but proof of failure. And it’s a testament to a government that relies on ideology and loyalty rather than expertise.
Diskuse