Hungary awaits investments from the East and from the West

Hungary will not give up its position as the meeting point of investments from East and West, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday, adding that despite “attempts to abuse people’s uncertainties”, it was important to understand that all battery plants built in Hungary adhered to strict regulations.

Szijjártó told a conference on the vehicle industry organised by the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) that out of the world’s ten electric battery makers that cover around 95 percent of the global market, six are Chinese, three are South Korean, one is Japanese, and none are European. It is clear that “the East has taken over this industry”, he added. For the first time in European economic history, large western European companies operating in a field that has a basic influence on the success of the European economy are nearly 100 percent dependent on suppliers from the East, he said. This situation is difficult to accept, which might explain why the representatives of “large and strong” member states at European Union foreign affairs council meetings “beat on the table, not only in a symbolic sense”, demanding to reduce the economic influence of Chinese companies on the continent.

Meeting point of East and West

“At the same time, when I meet large western European company leaders, they regularly ask me to convince suppliers from the East to come to Hungary,” he added. Szijjártó said that outside of Germany and China, it was only in Hungary that all three premium carmakers from Germany have factories. Additionally, three of the world’s ten largest electric battery makers are present and a new investment will be announced soon, so the number will increase, he added. Commenting on the attacks against electromobility investments, he said that the construction of new plants always triggered a sense of uncertainty in local communities.

“While it’s easy to abuse people’s natural concerns for health in their living environment, we must still ask all political players to act responsibly and not mislead people and not to abuse people’s legitimate concerns,” he said. He underlined the government’s intention to continue supporting investments required for electromobility, “because these can keep the economy on a growth track”.

Hungary embarks on new era in energy, hydrogen economy

Hungary has embarked on a new era in its energy and hydrogen economy, Csaba Lantos, the energy minister, said on Tuesday at the inauguration of Hungary’s first hydrogen production plant. Speaking in Kardoskut, in southern Hungary, Lantos said the plant was the first rung on the ladder of Hungary’s hydrogen industry and a further step towards reducing its energy dependence, with the possibility of storing renewable energy.

A 2.5 megawatt electrolysis system and hydrogen gas preparation technology will operate at the Kardoskút underground gas storage facility, Kriston Ákos, chief executive of Magyar Földgáztároló, said. Excess current generated by renewable energy sources such as solar can be stored in the hundreds of megawatts in the form of hydrogen for a period of several months, and can be returned to the grid as needed, he said. The R and D project cost 5.6 billion forints (EUR 15m), and the state provided support of 2.5 billion.