New goal: raise Hungary’s gas production

The government is looking to bolster domestic energy production to strengthen independence from imported energy resources, László Palkovics, the technology and industry minister told a conference on Thursday.

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 Makó, 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.

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

Other projects include revamping the Mátra power plant in northern Hungary and shutting down the blocks using lignite in 2025,

Palkovics said. They would be “kept in reserve” and replaced by a hydrogen plant and a solar plant, he said.

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Source: MTI