Despite the economic downturn the number of gree energy projects in Hungary has grown considerably, which might bring about a breakthrough in the renewable energy industry. ELMIB Group expects a shift towards biogas and biomass power plants within the green energy sector. These expectations are justified by the fact that the construcion of almost 20 such plants have bee given the green light until the end of 2009.
The Hungarian Energy Office has given out almost 20 licences to build new biogas and biomass power stations until December, whereas there has been a remarkable slump in demand for building wind plants. ELMIB Group expects this trend to continue in 2010, partly because with its agricultural production Hungary is ideal for building biogas and biomass power plants.
According to the findings of ELMIB’s survey the number of wind plants licensed in Hungary far outweighed that of biogas and biomass ones, but trends have changed this year. Now there are considerably more plans to build greenfield biogas and biomass power stations. This year was the first to see the appearance of businessess solving their energy problems by building green power plants. Among investors there are agricultural companies which can generate energy from processing agricultural waste and the the end item can be used as a fertilizer.
The number of plans to build green power plants has risen remarkably despite the fact that the economic downturn has badly affected investment opportunities as well as the price advantage of green energy. Together with the boom ELMIB Group expects a rise in oil and gas prices. The increasing demand for fossile energy sources has made the price of oil soar to $80 at present, and there are forecasts predicting a further increase to $100. This will give a competitive edge to green energy and encourage new investments thus giving new impetus to biomass and biogas plant constructions throughout the country.
Only 7% of electricity in Hungary came from renewable resources in 2008, while this proportion was 17% in Europe. The advantages of environmentally friendly energy generated from Hungarian resources is becoming more and more conspicuous; investments generate jobs, carbon dioxide emission is less, the length of delivery routes is reduced and energy supply is safer and more reliable. Besides, local production based on renewable resources reduces the energy dependency for companies, regions and the whole country thus helping Hungary recover from the economic crisis. ELMIB CEO József Kele thinks that reshuffling Hungarian regulations would create more favourable conditions for encouraging green energy investments. This could be well supplemented by an improvement in the intensity of EU funding.
ELMIB Group recently opened the third largest biogas power plant of the country in Dömsöd, which whill supply 3000 households with electricity. By 2012 ELMIB will have built biomass power plants in Kaposvár and Salgótarján reducing heating bills in both towns.
The ELMIB group is one of the most rapidly growing Hungarian-owned energy companies providing full-scale, environmentally friendly service to municipalities, state-owned and private companies, tailored to regional demands throughout the country. It offers a comprehensive set of services in the energy business: energy generated from renewable resources, energy trading and gas distribution. The company is also active in the modernization and operation of public and indoor lighting systems and provides complex energetical solutions for institutions.
