Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó had a telephone call with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak to review the situation of energy supplies.Continue reading
Government measures and continuous storage since April have resulted in the Hungarian gas storage capacity having exceeded 90 percent. Adequate preparations will ensure secure supplies for households and the smooth functioning of the economy next winter, the Ministry of Energy said on Monday.
The EU regulation, the result of the war-induced energy crisis, sets a uniform mandatory recharge rate for Member States with underground storage facilities by November 1.
Hungary, having outstanding storage capacity, will already meet the required level for the heating season in August,
according to the ministry.
A European Parliament and Council regulation adopted last summer required underground gas storage facilities to be filled to at least 80 percent of their capacity by the start of the 2022-2023 winter season, in response to the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.
As of this year, the mandatory refilling rate has been uniformly increased to 90 percent with a deadline of November 1.
Intermediate targets have also been set for each Member State concerned, based on the average of the previous five years. In the case of Hungary, the third-highest level of 86 percent was set for September 1, they said. By comparison, Hungary already reached the 90% target for November in the summer. At present, 5.7 billion cubic meters of gas are available in domestic storage.
The amount stored so far is about one and a half times the amount available in the same period last year.
Due to the different storage capacities in the Member States, the comparison of consumption figures is a better reflection of the actual situation. Hungary’s over 56% consumption rate is in the narrow European top league, twice the EU average,” according to the Ministry.
Since the end of June, more natural gas has been available in installations than was used by households in 2021, the last full year before the international energy crisis.
The current stock is more than a third higher than the annual level of residential consumption before last year.
Despite the difficulties caused by the war and the sanctions, the Hungarian government pledges to maintain the form and conditions of the utility price caps in the new budget year, starting from August 1. The unique measure will ensure that
Hungarian families will benefit from the lowest electricity and gas prices in Europe.
The protected state gas reserve and the additional stocks will guarantee a secure supply of gas to households in the coming winter and will make a major contribution to the smooth functioning of the economy, the ministry concluded in their statement.
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