Gas shortage in Hungary – who will lose supply?
Change language:
Gergely Gulyás, the prime minister’s chief of staff, declared a state of energy emergency last week. As a result, the government modified the utility price cap scheme and decided to fill its storage facilities. Furthermore, foreign minister Péter Szijjártó announced that in addition to the amounts fixed in long-term contracts with Gazprom and Shell, Hungary would purchase 700 million cubic metres of gas. Anyway, Gulyás said that it might happen in the following months that there would not be enough gas. But what happens then? You may find answers below.
Gas emergency to be declared in Hungary?
Journalists asked Gulyás multiple times whether there is an “emergency shutdown plan” in Hungary. He confirmed only the information but shared no additional details. He added he was not sure that plan was public. However, G7.hu found those plans and shared a summary of what happens if Hungary runs out of gas.
The Hungarian economic news outlet suggests that Russia will not deliver gas on Nord Stream 1 and will cut such deliveries to Europe because of the arms deliveries. Gazprom reduced its gas export to Germany by 40-60 percent in the last few weeks. Furthermore, since the start of the maintenance work of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the EU has received 70 percent less gas. In the case of Hungary, the amount decreased by 12 percent.
The European Commission is also preparing for a drop in gas deliveries. The EC will probably propose this week that public buildings should only be heated up to 19 °C, and citizens should start saving gas voluntarily. The goal is to evade an emergency shutdown in Europe. The Hungarian government does not talk about a possible shortage. The Orbán cabinet draws public attention only to the high gas prices. They say the utility price cap scheme needed to be modified and linked to average consumption because of the sky-high prices.
Here is the emergency shutdown plan
But Hungary has an emergency shutdown plan if the natural gas supply does not meet demand. The plan’s aim is to protect household consumers and the district heating system from the consequences. Key institutions in the scheme are the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority (HEA) and the Ministry for Innovation and Technology.
The law describes three levels of a gas emergency. First is the forecast, next is the warning, the third is the emergency level. At the forecast level, the sector’s companies have to submit daily reports to the HEA. At the next level, a committee forms to analyse the situation. The body makes suggestions to the minister, but the state does not interfere with the market. The main rule is that in the case of emergency, households, hospitals, retirement homes, and non-industrial users have to be protected.