Focus on Renewable Energy and Municipal Good Practices, Hungary, Budapest, 25 September 2025
- Tessy Melidi
- Oct 12
- 3 min read
On 24 September 2025 the Hungarian National Association of Local Authorities (TÖOSZ) successfully hosted the international partner meeting for the «Green Cities – Active Cities» project with a focus on Renewable Energy and Municipal Good Practices. The event, which took place in Budapest and Veresegyház, gathered 8 project partners from across Europe.
Dr. Ferenc Gyergyák, Secretary General of TÖOSZ, opened the international partner meeting in Budapest with welcome remarks.
Katalin Sablan from TOOSZ, showed on behalf of the Hungarian Association of Nature Conservationists the presentation titled, "Renewable Energy and the Green Transition in the Hungarian Local Government Sector Today". The presentation emphasized that local governments are key actors with direct responsibility for local infrastructure, public buildings, and transport. It noted that their role is essential for achieving Hungary's 2030 targets and that empowering municipalities ultimately means empowering citizens. The presentation highlighted that, despite facing challenges like financial constraints, dependence on central funding, and a lack of technical expertise , municipalities can implement solar projects on public buildings, perform energy efficiency retrofits, and support community energy initiatives. It specifically recommended strengthening strategic planning at the municipal level, building partnerships with citizens and NGOs, and investing in staff capacity building and training.
Dr. Klára Horváth, Mayor of Bábolna, shared the municipality's experiences with the Bábolna Energy Community, which is Hungary's first registered energy community. The project, established with a grant of HUF 300,000,000 in June 2022, aims to strengthen local energy independence, reduce energy costs, and foster community cohesion. Key actions include the installation of smart meters and storage units at residents' households, and the implementation of solar panels for the electricity supply of municipal institutions. These solar panels were installed at the Health Center, the Canteen, Community House, the Bathing Beach, and the Riding Hall, helping cover the institutions' energy needs and promoting local energy independence.
Ionela Stoian, from the National Union of County Councils of Romania (UNCJR), provided a good practice example from Braşov County focusing on "Smart and Sustainable Public Lighting with LED & Renewable Energy". This municipal initiative involved the replacement of lighting fixtures with LED technology and partial integration of photovoltaic panels, resulting in over 50% reduction in energy consumption for street lighting and significant budgetary savings, proving that combining energy efficiency with renewables maximizes impact.
Dr. Béla Munkácsy, associate professor at the ELTE TTK Department of Environmental and Landscape Geography, presented on "Mapping Sustainable Energy Management: The Way Forward for Municipalities". He introduced the CLEVER scenario (Collaborative Low Energy Vision for the European Region) , which suggests Europe can reduce its energy demand by 55%, become 100% renewable by mid-century, and reach climate neutrality by 2045.
The international partners were later transferred to Veresegyház where they had a discussion and presentation on the town's geothermal heating system.
Cserháti Ferenc, Mayor of Veresegyház, present the town's geothermal heating system, highlighting that the Veresegyház geothermal system, which has been continuously expanding and operating for 30 years, utilizes 140 TJ of geothermal energy per year. It features the most extensive thermal water pipeline network in Hungary at approximately 37.5 km in length. This results in a 98% replacement of fossil fuels for heating and a reduction of 3,800,000 m 3 per year of natural gas consumption. Due to its success, plans are already underway for new thermal wells and further expansion of the transmission line network, as "practically no one in Veresegyház thinks about gas heating anymore".
Following the day's discussions, the international partners were transferred to the Buda Castle District for an optional guided walking tour and free time. The partners enjoyed a dinner at the Főőrség Restaurant in the Buda Castle.
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