János Süli, the minister without portfolio responsible for the design, construction and installation of the two new nuclear power plant units of Paks and William D. Magwood, director general of OECD NEA held a joint press conference followed by an international conference on 25 January, where the main topic was the latest publication of the agency compromising of 33 member states, the so-called The costs of decarbonisation.

János Süli thanked Mr. William D. Magwood for the honor of being chosen by OECD NEA as the location for the world premiere Budapest, Hungary. The minister reminded everyone that Hungary is a member state of the world organization since 1996, and as a minister he has the opportunity to meet with the director general for the third time in two years. János Süli emphasized the publication confirms his own standpoint, nuclear and renewables are not against each other, but on the contrary, they need to be used cleverly in the energy mix.

William Magwood said the publication revealed today answer the question how nuclear and renewables can be used together effectively. He added based on recent results energy market cannot operate independently without state aid or intervention. The cost analyzes found in the publication can help in the use of resources and to maintain balance.

Answering a journalist’s question, János Süli said they will submit the implementation license application consisting of 300 thousand pages to the competent authority, once it is in such a quality that the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA) will accept and issue the license following the 15-months long survey. Following this can start the erection and the commercial operation of the two new units after a trial period. He added: due to the previous delayed EU-investigations, the financial intergovernmental agreement – which is public and available for everyone – is under modification. He underlined, the project is with fixed price, there can’t be cost overruns, and the loan can be prepaid. He also added the project company already has more than 300 licenses. The construction of the 22/11 kV transformer station is nearing its end, so the Contractor will have electricity for construction and assembly works. He also said that Russian Party is soon going to start the construction of the first auxillary buildings on the construction and erection base.

Following the press conference, János Süli welcomed the about 150 interested. He highlighted in his presentation, the domestic electricity system operates with a high share of import: about one third of consumed electricity is bought by Hungary from abroad, this share is constantly growing, last year it was 31,65%. He added: the electricity need is also growing, in the last few days several records were broken, the latest record was on 26 January, the peak system load reached 6926 MW. He reminded the attendees, the currently operating nuclear power plant units will be shut down between 2032-2037, and the national power plant park is aged and outdated. These all illustrate that for security of supply, having cheap electricity and to reach climate goals, the construction and connection to the grid of the two new Paks nuclear power plant units is necessary.

William D. Magwood summarized in great detail The costs of decarbonisation publication, introduced first in Hungary. The main statement of the study published by OECD NEA, that a CO2 emission free system can be designed, the costs are defined by the internal shares (nuclear, hydro and renewables). The study also ascertains furthermore, the decarbonisation of the energy system is a great challenge, as by 2040 the extend of CO2-emission must be reduced to eighth. According to NEA’s study, this can be only done by using low-carbon technologies: nuclear energy, hydropower and variable renewable energy. According to the detailed surveys, an energy mix based on nuclear is the most cost efficient.

Following the two presentations, renowned experts discussed the publication, its main statements and the importance of decarbonisation at a panel discussion. The discussion was lead by the nuclear director of MVM Ltd., Mr. Pál Kovács and the attendees were: William D. Magwood, director general of OECD NEA, Sama Bilbao y León, Head of the Division of Nuclear Technology Development and Economics at OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, Frederic Lelievre, vice president of Framatome, Péter Kaderják, state secretary for energy and climate policy, György Kóbor, chairman-CEO of MVM Ltd., Pál Ságvári, ambassador-at-large for energy security and Attila Hugyecz, expert for the minister without portfolio responsible for the design, construction and installation of the two new nuclear power plant units of Paks.