Ministry, unions to set up committee to oversee Mátrai plant transformation

The innovation and technology ministry on Monday said it has reached an agreement with union representatives on setting up a committee to oversee the transformation of Hungary’s northern Mátrai coal-fired power plant.

The government is committed to keeping the Mátrai plant operational as well as upgrading it, while taking into consideration Hungary’s goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, the ministry quoted Innovation and Technology Minister László Palkovics as saying.

He said

the plant played a crucial role in Hungary’s energy supply, arguing that shutting it down would pose energy security problems for the country’s north-eastern region.

Also, making the plant carbon-neutral or converting it into a gas plant or a waste recycling plant would be far more economical options than closing it down, he added. The minister also noted that the plant and the industrial park connected to it employ more than 10,000 people.

At the meeting, the unions proposed that

Hungary should participate in the European Union’s platform for coal regions in transition,

saying it could help bring in technological solutions that could assist the transformation of the Matrai plant. The ministry said the government was likely to weigh the possibility of joining the platform.

• Budapest residents have the cheapest energy in the EU
• Hungary oil reserves replenished