Debrecen's new battery plant will have brutal high water consumption?

The Fidesz leadership of Hungary’s second biggest city started a counter-offensive against the protesters demonstrating against Chinese CATL’s new battery manufacturing plant.

The protesters say the new plant, which will be Europe’s biggest, will have an incredibly high water consumption. They talk about 40 thousand cubic metres, while the leaders of Debrecen state that it will not be higher than 25 thousand. However, an analysis appeared on the website of the local government officials saying that the new facility will need an even higher amount of water, more than 60 thousand cubic metres. However, the analysis disappeared in days. The local government said the expert conducting it made a mistake, but locals do not believe the explanation because the paper impacting the investment badly vanished so quickly, 24.hu wrote.

Drought was severe in Hungary last summer, and experts project the situation will only worsen. Therefore, residents are afraid they would lose their precious water source because the Chinese company will use it. Others argue that they will pollute the water.

Read also: Battery plant construction protested against in Hungary

László Papp, Debrecen’s mayor, visited CATL’s plant in Germany, highlighting that the investment would not bring any harm to the municipality. However, locals say the factory in Germany is much smaller than the planned one in Debrecen. Furthermore, the German authorities enforce all environment protection rules, while their Hungarian counterparts failed to do so in Göd, where the South Korean Samsung built an immense factory. Thus, tensions will remain in the city. And that is just the beginning. It seems that all Hungarian opposition parties will concentrate on Debrecen in the following weeks. For example, Momentum Movement announced they would redirect their efforts to Debrecen instead of the Hungarian Parliament.

Opposition party turns to top court over battery plant regulations

The opposition Párbeszéd party is appealing to the Constitutional Court in connection with battery plant regulations. “[Ruling party] Fidesz is intent on turning the country into a battery superpower,” the party’s co-leader, Rebeka Szabó, told a streamed press briefing on Friday. The plants use up water resources and electricity while harming environment with toxic substances, she said, adding that they “don’t comply with occupational health and safety regulations”.

Referring to the law on priority investments and a government decree published on Thursday, which provides exemptions in the case of zoning regulations, she said Párbeszéd accused the government of easing regulations so Asian multinationals “don’t have to take the environment or workers’ rights into consideration”.