On May 3, AmCham hosted Attila Steiner, State Secretary for Energetics and Climate Policy at its Policy Forum where participants were given a highlight on status of the "Fit for 55" package, as well as the Hungarian position on certain elements of the green transition framework.
State Secretary Steiner began his presentation by stating, that despite the EU's ambitious target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, addressed also by the Fit for 55 packages, countries including Hungary had to first face the recent energy crisis which has been further aggravated by the Russian-Ukrainian war and the resulting sanctions. Therefore, their aim for the past winter, and for the next one, has been to guarantee energy supply.
Securing a sufficient amount of natural gas (while reducing our dependence on Russian sources) is especially challenging as Hungary is a landlocked country and we are reliant on interconnectors with each having their own bottlenecks. However, the State Secretary noted that Hungarian gas storage facilities are abundant (can cover ¾-th of all annual Hungarian natural gas need) – the challenge is filling them to capacity.
He then stated that the Government’s goal in the medium to long term is to gradually reduce the reliance on gas, in favor of nuclear and renewable resources. He also emphasized that to the transition, it is essential to create a balanced energy mix. For diversification, first, the appropriate infrastructure must be built which takes time.
As part of the green transition, it is important that grids undergo a transformation, shifting towards smart solutions and local energy production which could partly address the current dependence on long supply chains and the importing of energy, and allow to better balance the renewable energy grid based on more direct control and management.
The transition also requires a solid strategy and a new approach. State Secretary Steiner also stressed that although the EU provides valuable funding, it is important to utilize these as an initial stimulus and to create best practice business models that can become self-driving.
He added that although EU legislation provides an important framework for the green transition, it would be also essential to focus on how this can be achieved in practice without compromising the EU's competitiveness at international level, for example, by to the inclusion of incentives in the framework.
Photos about the event are available in the Gallery.