Romania-Hungary-Austria Gas Corridor to be connected to SGC

Caspian Energy (CE): What risks do currently exist in ensuring the energy security of Hungary? Could you please tell about the performance of the Hungarian gas market? How many additional gas volumes will be required to ensure the economic growth of the EU and Hungary in particular?    

Miklós Seszták, Minister of National Development of Hungary: The purpose of the National Energy Strategy adopted in 2011 is to ensure the long-term sustainability, security and competitiveness of energy supply in Hungary. Its high share of imported energy sources and its limited supply routes make Hungary vulnerable in terms of energy supply safety. Therefore, in our effort to ensure reliable and safe supply in the long run, we try to establish properly diversified supply routes and sources as well as to provide for ongoing infrastructure maintenance.

Hungary’s natural gas system is interlinked with each of our neighbouring countries, except for Slovenia. In addition to the Brotherhood pipeline arriving from Ukraine and the HAG pipeline running across Austria, the Slovak-Hungarian interconnector – operating since 2015 as part of the North-South gas corridor – substantially enlarges Hungary’s procurement opportunities, greatly contributing to our reinforced energy safety. Hopefully, the planned LNG terminal in Croatia and the related pipelines of the gas corridor will be implemented soon. Apart from the natural gas supplied to Europe across the Adriatic Sea, access to Black Sea sources is equally important for Hungary; it could be achieved by making the pipeline between Hungary and Romania bi-directional in the future.

 Hungary’s electricity system is properly connected with the neighbouring countries, and our available power plant capacity (8558 MW) is able to safely meet Hungary’s electricity demand without import even in peak periods. We will continue to develop Hungary’s network and to enhance its market integration. For such purpose, new cross-border pipelines will be constructed in the coming years in order to further increase the level of interconnection among the electricity systems of Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary.