Hungarian President János Áder announced the country’s original plan to exit coal by 2030 at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York in September 2019. He said Hungary would simultaneously increase its solar power capacity ten times and expand the capacity of its nuclear power plants. These efforts would mean that 90% of Hungary’s electricity production will be carbon-free within a decade, he said.

This week, the secretary of state for the Development of Circular Economy, Energy and Climate Policy, Attila Steiner, announced a more ambitious target during a meeting of the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), to bring forward Hungary's phaseout of coal to 2025. Hungary is to receive support from the EU’s new Just Transition Fund to support the transition of its coal regions, of which closure of the 884 MW Matra coal power plant is a part. PPCA is a coalition of national and sub-national governments, businesses and organisations working to advance the transition from unabated coal power generation to clean energy.

Hungary has four nuclear reactors generating about half of its electricity. In 2018, nuclear accounted for 49% of its electricity mix, natural gas for 23%, and coal for 15%.