Retrospective on Alexander Glass-Hardenbergh, “How will the Czech Republic Achieve the EU Climate and Energy Targets?” from Post Communist Reform in the Czech Republic: Progress and Problems Perspectives on Business and Economics, Volume 34, 2016 Alexander Glass-Hardenbergh ‘16 is Quantitative Researcher at J.P Morgans Asset Management. Glass-Hardenbergh evaluates energy sources the Czech Republic should prioritize to meet the EU's 2020 and 2030 renewable energy and CO₂ reduction targets while satisfying domestic strategic goals for energy security, sustainability, and competitiveness. Comparing nuclear, solar, wind, hydro, and biomass across capacity factors, lifetime costs, and emissions reduction potential, the author identifies wind as the most promising renewable option. However, he emphasizes that limited electricity grid capacity poses a critical constraint that could prevent large-scale deployment. Has wind fulfilled its promise as the Czech Republic's optimal renewable energy source? Glass-Hardenbergh identifies wind as the strongest renewable candidate, estimating a Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE, the average cost of building and operating energy-generating technologies over their lifetime) of $145/MWh, well below solar’s $393/MWh cost at that time. But he notes that grid constraints limited connectable capacity to just 1.78 gigawatts (GW) out of a technically viable 12.5 GW, without major infrastructure investment (Orságová et al., 2009), making wind the superior but still structurally constrained option (IEA & NEA, 2010). That infrastructure gap remains unresolved. As of 2024, wind produces just 1% of Czech electricity, with installed capacity stagnant at approximately 352 MW, essentially unchanged since 2019, according to the Czech Energy Regulation Authority (Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 2024). The International Energy Agency (IEA) confirmed that independent studies projected a realistic wind potential in the Czech Republic of only 1.6 GW by 2030, and that government targets fell short even of that figure (IEA, 2021). Grid modernization remains the top barrier, with major operators only recently beginning to scale up investment (CMS Law, 2024). Wind's promise remains largely unrealized, held back by the same structural barriers Glass-Hardenbergh identified in 2016. Has the Czech Republic's nuclear expansion strategy delivered on its longterm energy security goals? Glass-Hardenbergh presents nuclear as the most costcompetitive baseload option at an LCOE of $69.74/MWh, but cautions that new reactors require approximately 15 years from bidding to operation, and that a 2014 tender for new reactors for the Temelín Nuclear Power Station had already collapsed over financing disputes, exposing the financial fragility of Czech nuclear planning (IEA & NEA 2010; Vlček & Černoch, 2013). Nevertheless, the project moved forward. In June 2025, the Czech government signed a construction contract with South Korea's KHNP for two reactors at Dukovany at a total cost of $18.6B, with construction to begin in 2029 and trial operations by 2036 (World Nuclear News, 2025). The government's January 2025 National Energy and Climate Plan projects nuclear power rising to 68% of electricity generation by 2040—well above the 50% target in the 2014 State Energy Policy (World Nuclear Association, 2025). Nuclear expansion is now formally contracted, but has arrived later, costlier, and more contested than the Perspective article anticipated. References CMS Law. (2024). Renewable energy in Czech Republic. Heinrich Böll Stiftung Prague. (2024). The Czech Republic is behind on developing wind power, we need an urgent change. International Energy Agency & OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. (2010). Projected costs of generating electricity: 2010 edition. OECD/IEA/NEA. International Energy Agency. (2021). Czech Republic 2021: Energy policy review. Orságová, J., Toman, P., Ptáček, J., & Modlitba, P. (2009). Analysis of the wind energy potential of the Czech Republic with respect to its integration into the power system. Brno University of Technology. Vlček, T., & Černoch, F. (2013). The energy sector and energy policy of the Czech Republic. Masaryk University / Muni Press. World Nuclear Association. (2025). Czechia—World Nuclear performance report. World Nuclear News. (2025). KHNP sets out plans for USD 18.6bn Czech nuclear project. Retrospective by Vini Jaiswal ‘ 26, B.S Industrial and Systems Engineering Martindale Retrospectives 3 July 2026
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