In the next four years, the Hungarian electricity transmission system operator, MAVIR will spend more than 400 billion Hungarian forints (1 billion euros) on the modernisation, capacity expansion and reconstruction of the grid to keep up with the expected increase in consumption and the boom of solar PV.
The transformation in the power industry, accelerating electrification and the increase in consumer demands present significant challenges to transmission system operators, said MAVIR after the Hungarian regulator accepted its plan to develop the electricity network.
According to the plans, MAVIR will implement in the coming years several investments including two major new substations to integrate industrial solar parks as quickly as possible. The Hungarian electricity system currently has 4,000 megawatts (MW) of industrial and household solar capacity and according to the Hungarian TSO an additional 5,000 MW of capacity can be added until 2027.
In its National Energy and Climate Plan, Hungary set out to expand its solar capacity to 6,500 MW by 2030. According to MAVIR, it would be possible to reach this target as early as 2025, and by the beginning of the next decade, Hungary can even exceed it twice.
The network development plan of MAVIR also includes international projects, such as the expansion of the 400-kilovolt transmission line between Békéscsaba and Nadab, Romania, the construction of the second 400-kilovolt transmission line between Sándorfalva and Subotica, Serbia by 2028 and the construction of the 400-kilovolt transmission line between Józsa and Nagyvárad, Romania by 2030.
There are also two major programs supported by the European Union and the Government of Hungary, within the framework of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), informed MAVIR adding that the transformation of the electricity system, with the rapid rise of decentralised energy production, in addition to the continuous maintenance of security of supply, demands a faster reaction capacity than ever before from transmission system operators.
