Government looking to ramp up domestic energy production

Hungary is already in talks with the European Union regarding 16 billion euros in funding to bolster energy sovereignty, he said in his keynote speech at the Green energy and sustainability expo and conference in Zalaegerszeg, in southwest Hungary.

“Setting up the ministry of technology and industry in the [new] government is a declaration, among other things, of not wanting to give up on creating a greener environment but also wanting to find solutions to the challenges surrounding us,” he said.

The government is looking into exploiting the shale gas fields near Mako, in southeast Hungary, and reopening the oil wells in southwestern Zala County, he said. Those alternative technologies seemed unimportant earlier, “but may be needed in this new environment,” he said.

The goal is to raise Hungary’s gas production to an annual 2.5 billion cubic meters from 1.5 billion, he said.

Other projects include revamping the Matra power plant in northern Hungary and shutting down the blocks using lignite in 2025, he said. They would be “kept in reserve” and replaced by a hydrogen plant and a solar plant, he said.