Hungary new AIB member

On 13 January 2021, the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB) announced that Hungary is now a member of the hub.

The AIB announced that the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority (HEA) which is the issuing body in Hungary is now apart of the AIB's association as of 13 January 2021. 

Although the country is now an AIB member it cannot yet issue or transfer EECs GOs under the AIB since they are not yet members of the EECS Electricity Scheme. The next step will be for HEA to complete their application to the EECS Electricity Scheme. As per the newsletter, two reviewers have been appointed who will work with HEA to make sure they meet the necessary quality standards of the EECS. According to AIB sources this will likely take a couple of months.  

What could this mean for the GO market?

According to AIBs European Residual mix for 2019, Hungary's total supply mix volume was 44.5 TWh which was more than what was supplied in Denmark and Estonia combined signaling that the country has a high energy demand. 

In 2019 Hungary's electricity production was 31.9 TWh, the country is a net importer with net imports of 12.6 TWh representing an almost 40% share of imports in electricity generation. Additionally, Hungary had a 61.3% and 60.3% renewable energy share in its production and supply mixes with a high contribution from nuclear energy.

In the AIB, Ex-Domain Cancellations (EDCs) are cancellations that take place in one country, for use in another that is not part of the AIB hub. Recent EDC data shows that in 2020 Hungary cancelled 1.47 TWh of which 51% originated from Norway. 

In the short to medium term, it is expected that Hungary will be a net importer member in the AIB while it caters to its high energy consumption. However, as the country continues to expand its power generation sources to cater to its internal consumption it is expected that in the long term the country could potentially switch to being a net GO exporter.