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MP László Pósán believes that the debate surrounding the battery plant is largely about the opposition starting its municipal election campaign.
Members of the Debrecen Assembly, including opposition politicians, voted earlier for a resolution allowing the use of up to 24,000 cubic meters of water a day in the Southern Economic Zone, where the CATL investment is planned, MP László Pósán said. According to the MP, the strict environmental conditions imposed by the authority are unique among European battery manufacturing investments.
László Pósán believes that the opposition is not putting this issue where it belongs: in the field of industrial and economic development, job creation, and new technologies, but treating it as a political issue. Even though, as far as we know today, these are the most environmentally friendly solutions. The MP said that “the opposition had also turned the public hearing into a political forum with the help of activists brought in from outside.
In response to the suggestion that Debrecen and its surroundings will dry out because of the battery plant, László Pósán said that this is another statement that serves to mislead people who are not experts in the subject. The fact is that the factories are not based on groundwater or aquifers, which are essential for drinking water. Debrecen’s water consumption peaked in the 1980s because of water-intensive industries – around 80,000 cubic meters per day. After the change of regime, several of these industries disappeared, so consumption fell by half to around 40,000, compared to the maximum daily consumption of 24,000 cubic meters approved by the assembly, which includes the demand of CATL. In addition, the battery plant will use mostly treated wastewater, i.e., grey water.
The opposition questioned the effects of the electricity supply that PAKS II is needed to serve these plants. In this respect, László Pósán pointed out that nowadays, modern industry worldwide is increasingly demanding electricity rather than “shoveling coal into boilers,” so networks need to be upgraded.
The politician stressed that electricity from solar energy could not be stored at the moment; batteries are needed, or the electricity is fed back into the current system. Both methods require significant investment – the optimal use of both methods is optimal, and there is no more environmentally friendly way to do it now.
The MP added that batteries had been part of our everyday lives for some time and are now much more environmentally friendly than they used to be – and CATL is leading the way.
Referring to the term “battery factory” recently used by the opposition, László Pósán said: there are already at least fifteen companies in Hungary that produce batteries.
Most of the profits they generate stay here, and they have the excess over the tax, of course, but they also reinvest in the Hungarian economy because they find their place here.
Finally, the politician stressed that the future is being built in Debrecen, because the companies operating in the industrial parks do not have smoky chimneys. They produce high added value products with modern technology in environmentally friendly industrial facilities.
Source: dehir.hu
