The ministry said a draft decree it had submitted for social consultation fixed prices and volumes for utility companies providing gas to households in the fourth quarter, which would keep regulated end-user prices for households unchanged.
“From the first of October, those living in apartments heated with district heating will pay the same rates as they have for 10 years,” the statement said.
With six billion cubic meters of natural gas in storage facilities, more than the 5.7 bcm consumed during last year’s heating season, the ministry said that Hungary would be suitably prepared for the winter in a statement issued on Sep. 28. The current capacity is double the three bcm of natural gas consumed by households in 2023, and exceeds the 5.5 bcm required by the economy, the ministry added.
Last year, total gas consumption amounted to 8.5 bcm, of which 70% was available before the onset of cold weather. According to its latest estimates, the ministry anticipates total consumption could fall below eight bcm this year, so reserves would likely cover a greater proportion of actual needs. In the first half of 2024, gas consumption in Hungary reached 4.37 bcm, down 6.5% from the same period a year earlier.
The European Union mandates that all member states fill a designated capacity of their gas storage facilities by specific target dates. In each case this year, Hungary achieved this target in advance. With gas storage facilities at 75% capacity in May, Hungary exceeded July’s 65% target by two months. It repeated this feat by filling November’s 90% target by Sep. 1.
Despite being a fossil fuel, natural gas is indispensable to the green transition, Minister of Energy Affairs Csaba Lantos said at the 54th International Gas Conference on Sep. 24. In pursuing its national energy policy, Hungary must meet the expected growing demand for electricity with its own resources, Lantos said. To this end, the government is committed to utilizing existing capabilities to reduce the country’s exposure to external procurement.
In his speech, Lantos recalled Hungary’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40%, compared to 1990, by 2030. With emissions already falling by 43%, exceeding preliminary expectations, he said the new objective is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030.
Hungary is also proving itself a frontrunner in achieving other sustainability goals, such as advancing electromobility, State Secretary for Industrial Policy and Technology Gergely Fábián said at a roundtable talk on transitioning to zero-emissions vehicles in Brussels on Sep. 9. One example has been the government treating the automotive industry and battery manufacturing as a strategic sector, he said.
Hungary has also been demonstrating these efforts with its high adoption rate of electric vehicles. Between January and August this year, the number of EVs newly put into circulation in Hungary increased by more than one and a half times compared to the same period last year, according to a ministry statement issued Sep. 19. This figure was only eclipsed in the EU by Malta, which saw a 53.5% increase.
In July alone, some 63.9% more pure EVs were put on the market in Hungary than in the same month of the previous year, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. This was the fourth-largest increase in the EU, just behind Croatia, the Czech Republic, and Denmark.
The government has also worked to increase adoption through a HUF 30 billion program to subsidize company purchases of EVs, funded by the European Union’s REPowerEU scheme. Launched in February this year and open until March next year, the program offers up to HUF 4 million per vehicle and up to HUF 64 mln per company, depending on the number of employees, for purchasing an electric car, van or minibus.
So far, around 3,700 businesses have submitted applications for more than HUF 17 bln in subsidies to buy nearly 4,500 vehicles, among them 3,400 passenger cars and a further 1,000 light commercial vehicles. BYD products were among the most popular among applicants for both LCV and passenger cars, accounting for 1,083 applications. By Sep. 18, the energy ministry said the first HUF 1 bln had been paid out.
Although this program had caused a surge in the number of green license plates issued earlier this year, the government announced in August that, from Sep. 1, the special plates would be limited to fully electric, zero-emission vehicles. Green license plates offer vehicle owners benefits such as free parking in Budapest and other cities, as well as certain tax advantages.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Construction and Transport said any change would be “to meet environmental targets, further promote the greening of transport and reduce emissions.” While green license plates may have incentivized the purchase of hybrid vehicles, some may have thought their privileges were being abused. “The era of green plates for luxury SUVs is over,” the energy ministry said in the statement announcing the change.
According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, there were 101,840 vehicles registered with green plates in Hungary at the end of June, of which 59,209 were full EVs. Owners of plug-in and range-extender hybrids now have until Nov. 30, 2026, to hand back their green plates.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of October 4, 2024.
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