After 40 years, a Hungarian company can build a power plant in Hungary

One of Hungary's most significant energy investments is proceeding according to schedule: with the laying of the foundation stone in September 2025, the implementation of the new combined cycle gas turbine CCGT unit (CCGT – short for Combined Cycle Gas Turbine) at the Mátra Power Plant in Visontán has begun. The project not only represents a technological breakthrough, but also a milestone in terms of security of supply, climate targets and the domestic energy industry.

The client for the investment is MVM Csoport, and the work is being carried out by a three-member international consortium: the Hungarian-owned Status KPRIA Zrt., WEST HUNGÁRIA BAU Kft. and the Egyptian Elsewedy Power System Projects.

The development is expected to add 520 MW of flexibly controllable capacity to the domestic electricity system by 2028, with commercial operation scheduled to commence in early 2029.

Why is this power plant so important?

No new base load power plants have been built in Hungary for about a decade and a half. Meanwhile, the share of weather-dependent renewable energy sources – primarily solar energy – is growing rapidly, creating an increasing demand for power plants that can be started up quickly and are easy to regulate.

The CCGT block in Visonta will fulfil precisely this role:

• a flexible back-up power source capable of balancing fluctuations in renewable energy sources,
• contributes to strengthening security of supply,
• and operates with significantly lower carbon dioxide emissions than the previous lignite-fired units.

Modern, flexible and efficient

The essence of combined cycle gas power plants is that the gas turbine and steam turbine operate in a single system, thus generating electricity from the same energy source with much greater efficiency.

In the case of the unit being built in Mátra, this is complemented by another important feature: the built-in Ansaldo Energia GT26 gas turbine is also partially suitable for burning green hydrogen. (The Italian state-owned Ansaldo Energia S.p.A. has significant knowledge and capacity in the field of gas and steam turbine manufacturing, as well as decades of maintenance experience – ed.)

This means that fossil fuel consumption can be reduced even further in the future. This innovative technical solution will be implemented here in Hungary for the first time.

The technical requirements of the project include:

• high efficiency,
• quick loading and unloading,
• strict environmental emission limits,
• and outstanding availability.

This will ensure that the facility remains modern and competitive for the next 25 years.

„Hungarian companies have not participated in power plant construction on this scale for nearly 40 years.”

One of the most important messages of the project is that

Hungarian companies are once again playing a key role in the construction of a major domestic power plant.

Representing the consortium of contractors, Tamás Németh, CEO of Status KPRIA Zrt., stated:

„The project is also unique because we are combining state-of-the-art technology – including gas turbines suitable for green hydrogen combustion, steam turbines and heat recovery boilers – in a single system, enabling us to generate electricity with significantly lower carbon dioxide emissions and greater efficiency and flexibility compared to traditional coal-fired units. On the other hand, Hungarian companies have not been involved in the construction of a new power plant on this scale for nearly 40 years.”

Domestic suppliers will play a significant role in the implementation of the project. The large transformers that form the backbone of the power plant's grid feed will be supplied by Ganz Transzformátor- és Villamos Forgógépgyártó Zrt., a company with a 150-year history, and the pressure vessels will also be manufactured and installed by Hungarian companies in the coming period.

In a previous interview with Világgazdaság, the CEO also emphasised that

The project is progressing according to schedule, with key equipment – including the turbine – available on time, while Status KPRIA is already bidding for foreign CCGT projects in the Western Balkans and Libya.

Fitting into a larger energy strategy

The Mátra investment is not a stand-alone project, but part of a comprehensive energy strategy in which power plant capacities, renewable energy sources and energy storage complement each other.

This is well illustrated by the fact that in 2025, Status KPRIA already delivered a sodium-sulphur (NaS) technology-based energy storage facility in Litér, with a capacity of 750 kW and 4,350 kWh. The development serves to improve grid stability and manage peak loads.