Hungary gets Chinese help to boost green energy plans

Hungary and China are joining forces to construct one of Central and Eastern Europe's largest solar energy storage facilities. The aim is to double Hungary's energy storage capacity and boost the role of green energy in its energy mix.

Even during cloudy weather, Hungary intends to maintain its solar energy production.

Hungarian and Chinese companies are building a $22 million solar energy storage facility near the city of Szolnok in central Hungary. This initiative is expected to enhance Hungary's power generation capacity.‌

Forest-Vill, the Hungarian company behind the Szolnok storage facility, expects to double Hungary's energy storage capacity from 30 to 60 megawatt hours, giving the country an edge in central Europe.

Zsolt Varhely, Manager of Forest-Vill's Industrial Service Division, told CGTN: "The main problem with solar is that the sun is not always shining, the energy fluctuates, and the consumption needs to be balanced with the production. That's why these batteries give us an opportunity to balance the system."

He added: "These electric batteries will store excess energy when solar production peaks and release it when demand is high, potentially reducing Hungary's reliance on non-renewable energy sources."

Varhely emphasized that the main goal of the facility is to decrease the country's gas consumption "and increase renewable energy sources like solar and wind."

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Hungary depends heavily on nuclear and natural gas for its electricity. Yet, as efforts to enhance solar energy intensify, this dependence is anticipated to diminish. By storing more solar energy harvested from farms, Hungary is striving to reach its climate goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.

Lazlo Szabo, director of the Regional Center for Energy Policy Research, told CGTN the plan has other financial benefits. According to Szabo: "We are interconnected countries, which means that Hungary's grid has a strong connection with Slovakia, Austria, the Serbian and other systems. It means that in a situation where we produce more photovoltaic, we can easily sell it to other countries."

The Szolnok energy storage facility will be operational by next summer and there are plans for more facilities across Hungary.

Varhely emphasizes China's crucial support for these projects, stating "they are really advanced in battery storage systems. Huawei is the supplier of the energy storage and power system for this project. They are a solid partner for our company."

The partnership signals a promising future for Hungary's clean energy production.

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