Hungary losing out on millions of euros in wind energy investments

An unambitious target, delays in grid connection tenders and a lack of legislative clarity are causing Hungary to miss out on new wind energy installations and with them as much as Euros 42 million of investments only up to end 2010. That was the stark message coming out of a workshop organised in Budapest by the European and Hungarian Wind Energy Associations (EWEA and MSZET) today. The current situation is clearly at odds with the intention of the authorities to promote renewables as a key area for the development of the Hungarian economy. This is all the more regrettable as EU level objectives for 80-95 % carbon free energy sector by 2050, and strong positive public opinion (90 %) clearly justify a strong development of wind energy. The country was due to have 330 MW of wind energy capacity installed by the end of 2010 according to the country’s National Renewable Energy Action Plan, but ended up with just 295 MW. The missing capacity represents Euros 42m in lost investments, EWEA has calculated. Although capacity has slightly increased since, this worrying trend of underachievement could continue in 2011. Hungary’s 2020 target in the NREAP is [...]