MET Group commissions Hungary’s largest battery storage facility

Swiss-based energy company MET Group has officially inaugurated Hungary’s largest standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) at its Dunamenti Power Station in Százhalombatta, located close to Budapest. The new facility boasts a total power output of 40 MW and a storage capacity of 80 MWh.

This project significantly expands MET Group’s energy storage portfolio in Hungary. It joins a smaller 4 MW / 8 MWh demonstrator BESS, which utilizes Tesla Megapack 2 batteries and was installed at the same site in 2022. MET Group became the majority owner of the old coal and gas plant in 2014 by acquiring the 75% majority ownership from GDF Suez. Since acquisition, the site has seen shifts towards renewables, including solar PV and batteries.

MET Group said the technology for the new large-scale facility was supplied by Huawei Technologies, with Hungarian firm Forest-Vill Ltd. serving as the main contractor for the project.

The company also said the combined storage capacity of the units at the Dunamenti site is now substantial enough to power the entire decorative and public lighting of Budapest for a continuous four-hour period.

Péter Kaderják, president of the Hungarian Battery Association, commented on the importance of such projects, saying, “We must strive by all possible means to exploit Hungary’s renewable energy sources as extensively as possible, using well-established, cost-effective technologies.”

The Dunamenti project is part of a wider European strategy for MET Group, which has been active in multiple ways, inlcuding the 2024 acquisition of French battery storage operator and developer Comax. The company is also developing co-located storage facilities alongside solar parks in several other European nations, signaling a multi-faceted approach to the evolving energy landscape.