At its 13 July meeting, the Government adopted and will file the National Energy Strategy to Parliament. Based on new foundations, the Strategy ensures the long-term sustainability, security and economic competitiveness of energy supply in Hungary.

The National Energy Strategy serves the primary national interests - thus guarantees the security of supply, takes the principle of least cost into account, enforces environment protection considerations and allows Hungary to contribute to the solution of global problems in proportion to its international weight and the amount of its resources. The achievement of these objectives inevitably requires the reduction of Hungary’s dependence on imported energy, partly through the diversification of resources and paths, increase in Government involvement, cutting the population’s energy shortage and the encouragement of domestic development in the related industries.

The purpose of the National Energy Strategy is to create the policy framework which will result in the co-ordination of energy policy with climate change policy with a view to economic development and the sustainable environment, and to shape the future image of the energy sector with the involvement of the sector participants. The Energy Strategy gives detailed proposals for the participants of the Hungarian energy sector as well as the Government up to 2030, and sets up a roadmap up to 2050, placing the actions recommended to be taken by 2030 in a global setting and a longer perspective.

In the course of preparing the document, the Ministry of National Development took account of and incorporated proposals made by more than a hundred significant - business, scientific, professional and social - stakeholders of the energy sector, as well as about 60 comments made during the public consultation. During finalisation, an economic feasibility study and a strategic environmental impact analysis will also be prepared for the National Energy Strategy.

Hungary’s opportunities and elbowroom are determined basically by three boundary conditions. The first one is a significant increase in the global energy requirement, the world’s energy need has doubled in the past three decades. The use of fossil energy carriers remains the most characteristic, only a rearrangement was performed to the detriment of mineral oil and the benefit of natural gas. According to an optimistic estimate, mineral oil will reach the peak of its yield by 2030, while coal, natural gas and uranium within 100 and 150 years.

As a second boundary condition, the fast use of fossil energy carriers results in accelerating global climate change. The accuracy of economic forecasts, predictability and production security is reducing. In order to prevent and mitigate this effect, Hungary must also prepare by cutting the emission of hazardous substances, and the elaboration of efficient adjustment strategies.

The third boundary condition is the vulnerability of the energy sector: nearly two thirds of the fossil energy carriers and more than four fifth of the natural gas are obtained from imports. Part of the decrepit and mostly low-efficiency Hungarian power plants, the currently low ratio of renewable energy, and the fact that the majority of our buildings are out-of-date in respect of power engineering, while transport and the industrial processes and energy efficiency development would also be required.

In this defenceless situation, a strategy suitable for the appropriate management of the emerging questions is required. The National Energy Strategy is meant to play this role as it sets out the means to achieve the desired goal, i.e. cutting energy dependence.

The framework of the National Energy Strategy was marked out by factors that also determine Hungary’s economy: the available resources, the productivity of the society and the geopolitical opportunities. In this context the most significant strategic goal is to ensure competitiveness, compliance with the sustainability criteria and the reinforcement of supply security.

In order to achieve the objectives the document takes the initiative for increasing the use of renewable energy sources, maintaining the current nuclear power capacities, developing regional power infrastructures, creating a new institutional system of energy supply and improving energy efficiency along with increasing energy saving.

The Energy Strategy will be discussed by Parliament and adopted by a resolution during the autumn session. Authorisation will be given for the elaboration of action plans fitting into the National Energy Strategy, which will include detailed measures required for the achievement of the formulated objectives. This will be followed by the adjustment of the legislative framework to the strategy and finally grants-in-aid and financial systems can be built on them. The Energy Strategy and the linked other concepts and action plans (climate change, renewable energy, energy efficiency, power and water supply to buildings) and sectoral (transport, rural development and tertiary education) strategies to make a complete system of strategic objectives.

(Ministry of National Development , Department of Communication)