The price of electricity in Hungary may turn negative within 3-5 years. The reason for this is that overproduction in electricity can be caused by the dynamically growing demand for solar energy. As a result, from 2021, only BB-rated residential buildings will be licensed. This can only be achieved if at least 25 percent of the energy used is produced from renewable sources.
Ferenc Tóth, the managing director of the Cable-Friendly Engineering Office, thinks that people strive for a zero-overhead fee for their home. Electricity from renewable sources will soon be cheaper.
“A one-time larger investment is easier for people to accept than long-term maintenance costs. They want to be able to use the electricity they produce virtually for free, whether in the classic sense or for heating or domestic hot water, ”said the electrical engineer. About half of the consumer price of electricity is the energy price itself, the rest is the cost of operating the system, and includes various levies and taxes.
"It has to be imagined like the computer industry in the 1990s. Computers were very expensive to buy at first, then the goods went down to around 100 thousand forints and stopped there. Later, however, we can buy much more advanced, more powerful devices for the same amount every year.
"This is also true in the case of smaller power plants of household size. The rate of price reduction has slowed down, but consumers can gradually install a better quality electricity system at the same investment cost," explained Ferenc Tóth. He also said that generating, transporting, and consuming electricity is much easier than storing it. And overproduction can be a serious problem.
Although there is room for maneuver due to the flexibility of the network, electricity must be consumed when it is produced. The expert said that overproduction can occur if there are many solar systems on a network and electricity is generated from a single primary source.