The Hungarian Secretary of State for EU Affairs Attila Steiner announced that the last coal-fired thermal power plant in Hungary – 844 MW Matra, will be closed in 2025 instead of 2030. Confirming the closure of the power plant is a crucial step in the planning of a just transition, Steiner said that Hungary’s plan is to achieve 90 % carbon-neutral electricity production by 2030. The country intends to achieve this by maintaining existing nuclear electricity generation capacity and increasing solar power capacity to 6 GW – three times the country’s existing nuclear capacity. Steiner said that Hungary will benefit from EU funds to retrain coal workers affected by the closure, as the 500 MW gas-fired power plant and a large 200 MW solar power plant will be built on the site of TPP Matra.
In addition to Hungary, the following six European countries are expected to cease the use of coal by 2025: France (2022), Portugal (2022), Slovakia (2023), the United Kingdom (2024), Ireland (2025) and Italy (2025).
