In a video posted on Facebook, Magyar quoted a 2022 bill submitted by the previous government, which stated that Hungary’s energy supply was on the edge of a precipice because the government had burdened the system with a “full Paks-worth” of electricity demand to benefit major investors.

Paks is Hungary’s sole nuclear power plant.

“In other words, they promised more electricity to major industrial players, often battery investment projects, than the domestic energy system could safely provide,” the prime minister said.

The approved major investments, he said, had added 2,000 MW to the system’s load, yet there had been no corresponding development in the grid, power plant capacity or guaranteed affordable electricity imports. Despite this knowledge, the Orbán government “did nothing for four years to develop the grid,” he added.

Magyar said Hungary needed “an energy and water revolution,” including “unprecedented development” of energy storage capacity and the electricity grid.

Magyar noted that while Hungary has more than 8,800 MW of solar capacity, its energy storage capacity is only 980 MW, meaning the country can produce roughly nine times more energy from the sun than its storage facilities can absorb at any given moment.

As a result, Hungary often produces surplus energy during sunny periods, which it can only sell at minimal or even negative prices, yet struggles to store enough for nighttime or cloudier conditions, he explained.

Despite this, he said, the Orbán government had consistently removed requirements for storage capacity development from regulations and subsidy programs for industrial and residential solar projects. He vowed that the current government would develop energy storage capacity to reduce Hungary’s import dependence.

Magyar also blamed the previous government for the underdevelopment of the electricity grid.

He said the government would announce Friday the results of a nearly HUF 600 billion (EUR 1.7 billion) EU-funded tender to develop the electricity grid, enabling the construction of new power lines, substations and higher-capacity transformers.

“Hungary’s energy will be safer, cheaper and increasingly domestic,” he said.

Referring to the current heatwave and drought, which has led to a reduction in output at the Paks plant, the prime minister noted that major industrial consumers are still expected to voluntarily reduce energy consumption. He also thanked the public for avoiding or rescheduling electricity use between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Magyar added that the Danube’s water level at Paks had risen by 11 cm since Sunday and that rain was currently falling in Austrian catchment areas.

However, he said this would likely not be enough to fully restore Hungary’s nuclear power plant, while a new period of dry, hot weather is expected next week, meaning “we will have to count every centimeter again.”