BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. Hungary-based energy company MOL Group has commissioned a 37.4 MWp solar park and a 20 MW battery energy storage facility with a storage capacity of 40 MWh at its Algyő site in Hungary, the company said.
The new facilities are expected to strengthen the energy independence of MOL’s operations, improve electricity supply flexibility and cut CO2 emissions by around 13,000 tonnes annually.
“Recent experience has highlighted the importance of managing intraday fluctuations in electricity generation. This is what we are achieving by commissioning our latest energy storage facility. The investment simultaneously promotes sustainability, security of supply and economic competitiveness: green electricity generated from our own sources reduces our reliance on external energy supplies, while the battery storage system contributes to the stability of the national power grid,” said György Bacsa, Group Chief Strategic Officer of MOL Group.
The new solar park, combined with MOL’s existing power generation facilities at Algyő, can fully cover the electricity demand of the company’s operations in the region. Its annual output is equivalent to the electricity consumption of around 22,500 households in Hungary’s Csongrád-Csanád County.
The 20 MW battery storage system is designed to help balance fluctuations in electricity generation from weather-dependent renewable sources. Its 40 MWh storage capacity is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of approximately 7,300 average households in the county.
MOL said the project forms part of its long-term SHAPE TOMORROW strategy, under which the company is expanding renewable generation and energy storage capacity as part of its decarbonization efforts.
The solar park was built by ALTEO Plc., in which MOL and its partners hold a 73.8% stake. ALTEO operates around 115 MW of renewable generation capacity from wind, solar, hydropower and biogas facilities.
Following the commissioning of the new project, MOL operates nine solar parks in Hungary with a combined capacity of 405 MW. The company also operates two energy storage facilities with total capacity of 80 MWh and plans to reach 500 MWh of storage capacity in Hungary by 2030.
In Croatia, MOL currently operates two solar parks with a combined capacity of 10 MW, while a third facility planned for next year is expected to bring the country’s total capacity to 23 MW.
Overall, MOL Group’s photovoltaic capacity in the region has reached 415 MWp, with the company estimating that its solar facilities contribute to an annual reduction of around 160,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
MOL Group’s expansion of renewable generation and energy storage is part of its SHAPE TOMORROW strategy, which targets carbon neutrality across all scopes by 2050 and calls for low-carbon projects to account for 30–40% of total capital expenditure between 2025 and 2030. The company has been expanding its photovoltaic portfolio in Hungary through both new developments and acquisitions, while also increasing the use of renewable electricity and developing other low-carbon technologies.
