Wind instead of imports: Budapest plans 4 GW of wind power by 2030

The Hungarian government led by Prime Minister Péter Magyar is preparing a major expansion of wind power. It wants to increase installed wind capacity to 4 GW by 2030, more than tenfold compared with today, Reuters reports. The first tender, for around 700 MW, has already been announced, but its terms have raised concerns among potential investors. In addition to costs and the auction design, the availability of grid connections, the length of permitting procedures and investors’ ability to deliver projects will also be decisive.

After years of stagnation, Hungary is making a major shift in its approach to wind power. Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s government wants to increase wind capacity to 4 GW by 2030. By 2040, it could exceed 6 GW. The first step is a tender for approximately 700 MW of new installed capacity.

This marks a major departure from the energy policy of the previous government led by Viktor Orbán, which focused primarily on solar power. Hungary already has almost 9 GW of installed photovoltaic capacity, while wind power has long stagnated at around 330 MW.

The change is driven not only by a desire to further develop renewable energy sources. Budapest is also seeking to reduce the country’s dependence on energy imports and bring down high electricity prices for businesses.

“One of the main goals of the entire strategy is to make energy supplies cheaper for businesses, which are now exceptionally expensive even by European standards,” State Secretary for Energy András Tóth told Reuters. He also cautioned that the change would not take effect immediately.

According to him, Hungary imports more than 80 percent of its total energy consumption. This dependence includes oil, natural gas and nuclear fuel. The new government therefore considers reliance on imports a significant economic and geopolitical risk.

Wind power is set to complement solar plants

Alongside reducing imports, the development of wind power is also intended to address the uneven output of renewable electricity. Solar plants already account for a significant share of Hungary’s energy mix, but their output is concentrated in daylight hours and depends on the weather.

Wind can partly complement this generation profile and reduce the need for imports when solar plants are producing less. Installed capacity alone, however, does not guarantee that electricity will be available at any given moment. The outcome will also depend on wind conditions, storage options and the capacity of the electricity grid.

Hungary’s energy sector relies largely on nuclear generation, supplemented by rapidly growing solar capacity. The new government is reassessing what the energy mix should look like over the coming decades. By the end of 2026, it wants to decide whether the country really needs new units at the Paks II power plant, whose construction has already officially begun. During the review, Economy and Energy Minister István Kapitány has pointed, among other things, to the rapid expansion of photovoltaics and to the drought that restricted the operation of existing nuclear units in the past.

Alongside the question of the future role of nuclear power, the government is also seeking to reduce dependence on Russian energy commodities, particularly natural gas. The development of wind power is part of a broader effort to diversify energy sources and strengthen the country’s energy security. The aim is to combine stable nuclear generation with renewable sources, while reassessing which investments Hungary actually needs and how to end its dependence on Russia.

The first tender shows the road ahead will not be easy

The first wind tender, whose terms were published at the end of August 2026, shows what the new policy looks like in practice. It offers around 700 MW of capacity for connection to the electricity grid across nine locations. Investors can submit bids until 30 October, with the results due to be announced in December. Projects from this round are expected to connect to the grid between 2030 and 2032. Several years could therefore pass between the tender’s announcement and the start of generation.

The tender terms have drawn considerable criticism from potential investors. Winners, for example, must pay municipalities a one-off amount of 10 to 50 thousand euros for each megawatt of capacity, and further ongoing payments are also envisaged. Investors must also accept the possibility that energy communities designated by the state will acquire up to a 25% stake in a project.

Criticism of the tender focuses not only on excessively high costs but also on the choice of locations. Some developers say they were selected primarily on the basis of available grid capacity, rather than the quality of wind conditions.

The tender terms are not the only obstacle. Hungary is also grappling with longstanding problems in allocating capacity to new renewable energy sources and with lengthy permitting procedures.

At the same time, the government plans to invest in upgrading the electricity grid. Around 1.5 billion euros from the European Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is to be directed towards its development. According to the government’s plan, the funding will support a more flexible and secure grid that can accommodate additional renewable energy sources.

Hungary thus faces a twofold challenge. After years of limited development, it must revive investment in wind power while also setting rules that ensure new projects are technically feasible and financially sustainable.

The success of the new strategy will therefore not be determined by the announcement of a tender or the number of megawatts awarded alone. The decisive question will be whether new wind farms can actually be built and made to supply competitive electricity to the Hungarian grid.