Domestic electricity consumption decreased only temporarily during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic - analyzed István Mittler, the communications director of Paks II. Ltd., the data published on the website of MAVIR Ltd. Looking at the annual data, the decline in electricity consumption caused by the pandemic was only 1,15% in 2020. And in the last quarter, consumption was slightly higher than in 2019. It is also typical that the value of 7095 MW of winter peak consumption was only 10 MW lower than the historical record registered in the last month of 2019. - According to the trends, 2021 will break records again - said István Mittler, the communications director of Paks II. Ltd.

- As reported in the press, last summer the total nominal capacity of domestic solar power plants exceeded that of the nuclear power plant. At the same time, it should be seen that while Paks produces electricity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the production of solar power plants depends on weather and time of day. It is a meaningful fact that despite similar capacity, solar power plants contributed only 4,8% to electricity generation. This is one tenth of nuclear-based production - István Mittler pointed out.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, electricity imports decreased somewhat in 2020 compared to the previous year, however, in six of the twelve months of the year, the share of imports exceeded the previous year. Last year, we covered more than a quarter of our consumption from abroad. - Even during the pandemic, it has been proven that in an emergency, each country is the first to take care of its own population, it is enough to recall the difficult acquisition of health masks during the first wave. High imports are therefore a source of vulnerability and also a serious risk, the communications director emphasized. In order to generate as much electricity as possible within the country, the two new Paks units will replace in the 2030s the currently operating units nearing their operating time.

István Mittler also pointed out that at the EU level the retail electricity price has been the lowest in Hungary for more than a year. - In Hungary, where one third of consumption is provided by the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, we pay HUF 37 per kWh. In contrast, in Germany, nuclear energy is rejected, the price was HUF 118 in December.