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Government committed to strengthening Hungary's energy independence

László Palkovics said that strengthening Hungary's energy independence, ensuring affordable energy to meet increasing demand, and promoting sustainability and environmental goals are the government's top priorities.

László Palkovics, Minister of Technology and industry, said that strengthening Hungary's energy independence, ensuring affordable energy to meet increasing demand, and promoting sustainability and environmental goals are the government's top priorities.

The minister told a conference organized by Huawei Technologies that the aim is to make the country climate-neutral by 2050, which requires such measures as shutting down the coal-burning unit of the Mátrai Erőmű power plant, developing further renewable energy sources, as well as increasing the energy efficiency of homes and public buildings, László Palkovics, the minister of technology and industry. Minister Palkovics said Hungary’s climate policy goals can be safely met but nuclear energy was indispensable in doing so. Hungary’s solar plants were originally planned to reach a capacity of 6,000 megawatts by 2030, he noted, welcoming that this goal can be achieved next year, while by 2030 output may increase to up to 13,000 megawatts. Palkovics also noted that Hungary had Europe’s largest capacity for producing batteries, adding that hydrogen ecosystems and the green economy offered further opportunities. Besides the two new blocks being added to the Paks nuclear plant, the continued operation of the current blocks was a “realistic alternative”, he said.

Concerning the Mátrai Erőmű power plant, the minister said the plant will be reconstructed without disturbing the country’s power supply. Changes will be made to burn natural gas rather than coal, while “modern technologies will also have a role”, requiring both European Union and domestic funding, Minister Palkovics said. At the conference dubbed Tech4Green – Digital Power Summit, representatives of the government, science and industry discussed issues around renewable energy, as well as the role of technologies in environmental protection, the circular economy, energy production and storage.

Photo credit: MTI