German Giant Expands Budapest Plant with New Factory, Training Center, and Solar Park

Siemens Energy has built a new factory, opened a training center, and installed a solar park in the framework of its investment program. This way, the company will be able to produce part of the energy needed for its operations, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced in Budapest.

The Minister said at a ceremony at the Siemens Energy factory that the German giant will produce gas turbine combustion heads at its new multifunctional plant and open a dual training center there, where Hungarian specialists will be equipped with the knowledge needed to use the latest technologies. In addition, a 1.5 megawatt solar park was commissioned under the Factory Rescue Program.

This three-part investment program is worth HUF 26 billion (EUR 67 million), with government support of around HUF 900 million (EUR 2.3 million),

he emphasized.

The politician also stressed that this investment program perfectly covers the main objectives of the Hungarian energy strategy, i.e. to be able to produce as much of the energy needed for the country’s operation as possible.

Péter Szijjártó pointed out that humanity is currently living in an era of threats, and the crises of recent years have shown that the countries that are more strategically capable, especially in the field of energy security, are the ones that can be more protected and less vulnerable. “The last few years have shown that a country can be really strong if it has the right capabilities for energy production, which is why we are building the new Paks blocks, and that can also provide the technical and technological conditions for its own energy security,” he underlined.

The Minister highlighted that since the government signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Siemens Energy, the company has doubled its revenues in Hungary, increased its workforce by 400 employees, and invested almost HUF 50 billion (EUR 129.5 million).

He stressed that the company will continue to be a key player in the security of Hungary’s energy supply in the future,

as Siemens Energy won the tender for the supply of the control technology for the new Paks nuclear power plant, together with the French company Framatome.

In this context, Szijjártó pointed out that the Paks expansion is a truly international project, with American, French, German, Austrian, and Swiss companies working on the project alongside the Russian prime contractor (Rosatom).

“Everything that is happening today in Hungary in the nuclear energy field also gives a kind of hope that common sense has not yet completely disappeared from international life, and gives hope that in the future we might be able to return to normal international cooperation based on mutual respect,” Mr. Szijjártó noted. He added that

Hungary intends to remain a meeting point for Eastern and Western economies, where Eastern and Western companies can continue to work together in peace.

“We encourage this cooperation, and we believe that the current global political challenges could be tackled much more effectively if we could maintain such international cooperation based on mutual respect and common sense,” he concluded.

Via MTI; Featured image via MTI/Máthé Zoltán