Hungary’s largest battery-based electricity storage facility to date has been handed over

Commenting on the significance of the investment, András Tótth, State Secretary for Energy at the Ministry of Economy and Energy, said that it would help to strengthen competition in the Hungarian electricity market, reduce balancing costs and lead to lower prices in the long term, thereby enabling Hungary to establish a more sustainable, secure and affordable energy supply. 

Around 5,000 megawatts of new renewable capacity could be developed

The State Secretary pointed out that the project had been established with significant state funding and was one of the smaller investments carried out by the previous government using funds from the RRF, that is, the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

The State Secretary emphasised:
 

Over the next four years, around €1.5 billion of incoming RRF funds will be allocated to the development of high-, medium- and low-voltage electricity networks. This will enable the creation of approximately 5,000 megawatts of new renewable capacity, as well as the establishment of associated storage facilities.

MAVIR has expanded the Buji substation with two new 132 kV bays

Gergő Batta, Deputy Chief Operating Officer (Zrt.) at MAVIR, the Hungarian Electricity Transmission System Operator, said at the event: there are currently around 8,500 megawatts of PV solar power plants operating within the Hungarian electricity system, which generate electricity continuously. Regarding the newly commissioned facility, he explained that in order to connect the two battery units to the grid, MAVIR had expanded its existing Buji transformer substation with two new 132 kV bays. This represented an investment of approximately 700 million forints for the company.

The Greenvolt Group is launching a new development project

Joao Manso Neto, Global Managing Director of the project developer Greenvolt Group, said of the development: the energy storage facilities built on the outskirts of Buj represent the group’s second investment in Hungary, and they will be launching their third development within weeks.
The group, which is part of the US-based KKR portfolio and focuses entirely on renewable energy, operates in twenty countries across Europe, Asia and North America, employs over a thousand staff, and has a turnover of €200 million.