In eastern Hungary, workers are preparing to build the largest battery factory for electric cars in Europe, to the displeasure of the residents of the region who are mobilizing to stop this Chinese project and the ambitions of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, reports AFP.
Viktor Orban, who for several years has been successfully courting the big names in the automotive industry with tax benefits and low salaries, is not used to such resistance, AFP states.
German car manufacturers Audi and Mercedes already have factories in Hungary, which they are currently converting to assemble electric models. Another large German car manufacturer, BMW, also settled in Hungary with an investment of two billion euros, according to Agerpres.
The conditions in Hungary are ideal for the Chinese giant in the field of battery production CATL, which in August of last year announced an investment of 7.3 billion euros for a factory located near Debrecen. It is a true mega-plant which, in three years, when it will be ready, will have an annual capacity of 100 Gigawatt hours (GWh), capable of supplying approximately two million electric cars per year with lithium-ion batteries, with far above the other European plants.
The problem is the fact that this mega-plant will be a big consumer of energy and water, claim the environmental activists. They also fear the discharge of toxic substances into the soil and water table.
Last Saturday, several hundreds of people gathered in Debrecen to demand a stop to the works. “People were not properly informed about this project, they were not asked for their opinion,” says Gabor Bogos, a 42-year-old IT engineer. “We need clean water, clean air and not batteries,” says Julia Perge, 56, the co-organizer of the event.
Concerns about the environmental impact were also exacerbated by the drought in the summer of 2022, when a nearby lake dried up.
In response, the Budapest Government criticized what it called “the spread of false information” and emphasized “very strict environmental regulations”.
Viktor Orban’s plans aim to turn Hungary into the factory of Europe. In total, more than 20 factory projects are being considered, a symbol of the so-called ‘Orbanomics’, a strategy introduced after Orban’s return to power in 2010. The objective is for Hungary to become the second largest European producer in 2030 of batteries for electric vehicles, after Germany.