The government has allocated HUF 1 billion (EUR 3.2 million) for the construction of a solar module factory in Csorna, in north-western Hungary, State Secretary of Hungary’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday in Budapest.
The project, worth about 15 billion forints, will create 212 new jobs. Production at the plant is expected to start in the second half of 2015. Further, the plant will create new jobs indirectly, too, as all components to be built into the modules will be manufactured by Hungarian suppliers.
The State Secretary stated that the construction of this plant is in accordance with the objectives of the Hungarian Government, namely to transform Hungary into the production center of Europe and attract as much R&D&I capacity as possible. With a view to accomplish this, the Hungarian Government will double the funds allocated to development and innovation in the next seven-year EU financial framework period, reaching HUF 700 billion (EUR 2.25 billion) compared to the previous period.
State Secretary Szijjártó stressed that energy efficiency projects would boost Hungary's competitiveness. Under the related EU regulation, the member states should increase the share of renewable resources within their total energy production to at least 13 per cent by 2020. Hungary, however, went beyond that and pledged to raise the ratio to 14.65 per cent by that time.
Managing Director Ákos Haidegger of EcoSolifer, the company that builds the factory, said that the plant would apply cutting-edge technology used so far only in Japan. This technology is 30 percent more efficient than the currently widely used solar panels. In the beginning the factory will manufacture mostly for export, since 57 percent of the solar panels are currently sold to Asia; the two biggest markets are Japan and China.