A new study by the prestigious British think tank EMBER shows how cross-border power links (interconnectors) have prevented power outages or complete blackouts in a number of European countries in recent years. Thanks to interconnectors, three nationwide blackouts have been averted over the past five years. At the same time, more than half of Europe’s power grid has very limited capacity to import electricity, exposing it to high risk in the event of a grid failure or cyberattack. The Czech Republic is among them.

A new study by the Puls Rail Bavaria Institute explores options for routing a high-speed rail line from Bavaria through Plzeň to Prague. The expansion of the current plans by the Railway Administration and the Ministry of Transportation is expected to provide the Czech Republic with greater potential for economic development as well as opportunities to strengthen NATO’s defense capabilities.

“For the past century, the Czech Republic has been connected to Europe’s wealthiest region—Bavaria—by only a single-track, non-electrified railway line. The famous train known as the Bavarian Express is limited to 70 km per hour in some sections. We therefore welcome the Ministry of Transportation’s current plans to modernize the line immediately, but we must not stop there,” says Martin Hausenblas, co-founder of the Puls Institute, adding: “As an export-oriented economy, the Czech Republic must be adequately connected to its customers. If we export 30 percent of our products to a particular country, we cannot rely solely on the congested D5 highway; rather, as part of the modernization, the existing line must be doubled as soon as possible, brought up to 200 kilometers per hour, and a high-speed line built in the same direction by 2035.”

A new proposal from the Puls Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure shows that, in addition to the existing planned rail line to Václav Havel Airport Prague, it would be advisable to build a second rail line that would connect the airport directly to high-speed rail services terminating in Prague. This ambitious plan currently exists as a feasibility study and is based primarily on a tunnel that would allow high-speed trains to enter Prague Main Station underground, connect to Metro Lines A and B at the Můstek stop, and travel all the way to the underground station beneath Terminal 1—all in 9 minutes. The line will then continue toward Kladno and Karlovy Vary, making it useful not only for airport visitors. 

How can we build high-speed rail lines that will improve the competitiveness of the South Moravian Region? Take a look at the alternative route proposals from the Puls Institute.

The Puls Institute has published a new study titled “Superkonektor,” which outlines a proposal for Czech high-speed rail lines, estimates construction costs, and calculates the potential increase in mobility for residents in each region. It proposes approximately 200 km more high-speed rail lines than the Ministry of Transportation, supplemented by 300 km of conventional rail lines connecting the regions. All of this would cost less than the Ministry of Transportation’s current plans. 

The Puls Institute’s 2023 Annual Report summarizes our efforts to strengthen the Czech Republic’s key competitive advantage, which lies in its central location in Europe. The Institute focuses on three key areas: the Czech Republic as a transportation, energy, and data hub. The report summarizes our achievements, strategic partnerships, and plans for the future, with an emphasis on cross-sector and cross-party cooperation to achieve ambitious national and European goals.

In cooperation with the Association of Municipalities Affected by the High-Speed Rail Project, the Puls Institute has prepared an alternative route for the high-speed rail line in the Ústí nad Labem Region. “In line with our values, we advocate for sustainable and socially just solutions—that is, a high-speed rail line that serves not only Prague, Ústí, and Dresden but also the communities along the route, and we choose solutions that reduce noise pollution from freight traffic for local residents,” says Adam Ondráček, director of the Puls Institute.

In the newly reached agreement, the European Union specifies the parameters for this infrastructure, based on which it may be co-financed with EU funds. However, it appears that the Czech Republic is letting its opportunity slip away to secure EU funds for the construction of railways and high-speed rail lines. “In the Czech Republic, only 35% of the railways included in the TEN-T core network and currently planned meet the new EU requirement,” explains transportation expert Jiří Kalčík from the Puls Institute. The European Council and the European Parliament have agreed that a key parameter for lines in the TEN-T core network will be a speed of at least 160 km/h by 2040. In this regard, the Czech Republic has modest ambitions.

German and Estonian power grid operators signed a memorandum of cooperation in May 2023 to build a new undersea power cable. Estonia is investing heavily in the construction of offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea and can thus sell its surplus electricity to Germany via undersea high-voltage cables. This will replace the defunct Nord Stream project and mark a definitive shift away from natural gas. A recently published EMBER study indicates that up to 14 gigawatts of wind farms could be built along the Baltic Sea coast by 2030—the equivalent of seven Czech Temelín nuclear power plants.

As a result, these turbines could generate up to 100 times the output of a single Temelín nuclear power plant. Central Europe has similarly great potential in the field of solar energy. This would result in a 29% reduction in the price of electricity throughout the region. Both studies are now available for download in Czech on the Puls Institute’s website.

On Monday, September 2, 2023, at 1:00 p.m., experts from the Czech SEEPIA team and the international think tank EMBER will present to the Government Committee on Sustainable Energy and Transportation. Two key documents will be presented to representatives of the committee, whose role is to advise the government on sustainable energy and transportation development and to provide international expertise.

The goal of the roundtable is to discuss a positive vision for how to effectively capitalize on the opportunities presented by the green transition in the Czech Republic and ensure competitiveness in the future. Several processes are currently underway that will influence the development of the Czech economy. At the global level, these include increasing deglobalization, efforts to shorten supply chains, and growing government subsidies for the production of green technologies in the U.S. and China. The EU is responding to these developments, for example, with the proposed Climate-Neutral Industry Act and by relaxing rules on state aid.

The Czech Republic is at a crossroads and needs a new vision and direction for the next decade to thirty years. Business organizations and initiatives have therefore joined forces to form the largest movement to date, in order to draw attention to the long-neglected problems of the Czech economy, which have trapped the country in the middle-income trap.

In the few months since its founding, the Puls Institute has managed to establish partnerships with a wide range of institutions, individuals, and organizations. We have signed memoranda of cooperation with EMBER, a leading British energy think tank; the Association for Infrastructure Development; the Czech Railway Administration; ČEZ; and the “Czech Interests in the EU” project.

Starting today, you can find us in the heart of Prague’s Old Town, specifically at the Opero coworking space. Opero is located in the prestigious and long-closed historic Štenc House on Salvátorská Street, right next to Prague’s Old Town Square. The building was constructed in the early 20th century based on a design by the leading architect Otakar Novotný and became, in its day, the most modern printing house in Central Europe.