Long lasting power Budapest Erőmű Zrt is a modern, professionally managed and socially responsible energy company that respects the environment and constantly increases its value by enhancing the efficiency of its core activities. The company wishes to maintain its leading market position in district heating and is preparing for the future by developing new business opportunities to take full benefit of the synergies with its new owner, the Czech EP Holding energy group. Edina Beale reports.
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nergy company Budapest Erőmű Zrt has been supplying the Hungarian capital for over 100 years. Today it operates three cogeneration power plants to produce electricity and heat for district heating simultaneously. While the company is the leading district heating supplier in the capital, furnishing around 60 per cent of Budapest’s heat requirements, it has also acquired a 3 per cent share of the national electricity market. The Újpest, Kelenföldi and Kispest plants use combined cycle production technology to provide heating energy and electricity within the same facility. This technology has been upgraded to increase efficiency and provide a substantially improved, environmentally friendly method of producing heat and electricity. Today Budapest Erőmű Zrt has a combined electricity production capacity of 406 MW and heat production capacity of 1182 MW. 136 Industry Europe
New directions In 2001, Budapest Erőmű Zrt became a member of the wellknown European energy operator EDF, and was later required to develop a completely new trading structure due to Hungary’s accession to the EU. In 2008 the Hungarian state abrogated PPA type contracts with all power plants, including Budapest Erőmű Zrt, but the company has managed to overcome the challenges of the new trading environment and stabilised its operations in the newly transformed market. In 2015 one of the leading central European energy groups, the Czech EP Holding, expanded in Hungary as part of its Europe-wide acquisition run. In July 2015, daughter company EP Energy sealed a deal with the Hungarian unit of EDF to buy a majority 95.6 per cent stake in Budapest Erőmű Zrt.
