Magyar Accuses Orbán of Driving Hungary's Energy System to Crisis

Prime Minister of Hungary Péter Magyar accused the previous government of Viktor Orbán of knowing about the critical state of the national energy system as early as 2022, but failing to take the necessary measures.

According to Magyar, the 2022 government document contained calculations indicating that large industrial projects were promised more electricity than the Hungarian system could safely provide.

The battery industry plants were expected to create a particularly significant load. Magyar claims that the additional demand from large investors was comparable to the capacity of the entire Paks nuclear power station.

The politician stated that the Orbán government understood the risks to the country's energy security. However, authorities continued to support energy-intensive industrial projects without ensuring the corresponding expansion of generation capacities and electrical grids.

Magyar's assessment says that by 2022, Hungary had seen no significant new capacities capable of steadily producing electricity regardless of time of day or weather conditions for over a decade. Modernization of aging power plants was also postponed.

Problems also emerged in the development of solar energy. The rapid growth in the number of solar power plants was not accompanied by the necessary expansion of the grids, reserve capacities, and energy storage systems. At the same time, the previous government restricted the construction of wind farms, stated Magyar.

The need for investments in Hungarian grids, storage facilities, and balancing capacities was also noted by the International Energy Agency. In a 2022 review, the organization warned that increasing the share of weather-dependent generation would require significant infrastructure development and greater flexibility in managing the system.

Magyar’s statement came against the backdrop of a severe situation in Hungarian energy. Due to heat and the low water level of the Danube in the summer of 2026, it had been necessary to reduce output at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, which provides a significant share of the country’s electricity production.

The new Hungarian government earlier announced the attraction of about 1.5 billion euros of European funding for modernizing the electrical grids. The planned projects are expected to allow the connection of over 4,800 MW of new renewable energy capacities.

Magyar did not present the full text of the 2022 document in his publication. Therefore, his estimate of the Orbán government's responsibility remains a political accusation requiring a separate verification of the original calculations.

Based on materials from: Péter Magyar, International Energy Agency