On the banks of the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary, the cold wind carries fine snow, but the conference room of China Machinery Europe Co., Ltd. is warm and cozy. The rustling sound of the signature pen on the contract announced the official landing of the 48MW/140MWh energy storage power plant EPC project of General Technology Group. At this moment, it has been over four years since the spectacular photovoltaic array in the city of K ö polsberg was first integrated into the Hungarian national grid. From a photovoltaic cloud to a set of energy storage devices, what General Technology Group has written in the Carpathian Basin is not only an upgraded history of China's business card, but also a vivid epitome of China's clean energy enterprises' transition from going global to going global.

Investment, construction, operation, retreat, and new path ahead

Set back to May 27, 2021, in the southwestern Hungarian city of Koposburg. With the closure of the booster station switch, the 100MW photovoltaic power station invested and constructed by China National Machinery Industry Corporation, a subsidiary of China General Technology Group, has been officially put into operation. At that time, it was not only one of the largest new energy projects in Central and Eastern Europe, but also a key cooperation achievement of China Hungary joint construction of the the Belt and Road.

Unlike the traditional approach of simply undertaking construction projects, the Koboshburg project has innovatively adopted a full lifecycle model of investment, construction, operation, and retirement. At the beginning of the project, facing fierce international competition, China Machinery Industry Corporation made a decisive decision to transform from an engineering contractor to an investor, leading the project acquisition and introducing financial investors. More importantly, the team did not choose simple subcontracting, but registered and established China Machinery Europe Limited to cultivate a localized team step by step. From replacing impact piles with spiral pile foundations to protect farmland soil, to hiring landscape experts for ecological restoration, the entire project construction process strictly adheres to EU environmental standards. This project provides Hungary with 140 million kilowatt hours of clean electricity annually, saving 45000 tons of standard coal. What's even more remarkable is that it successfully achieved non recourse project financing, accumulating valuable first pot of gold experience for Chinese enterprises to carry out investment and financing business in the high-end European market in the future.

Fill the gaps in the energy storage card slot

If the Koboshburg project solves the problem of where electricity comes from, then the energy storage project signed in early 2026 is aimed at solving the problem of how to stabilize electricity. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the EU's energy pattern was deeply restructured, and Hungarian photovoltaic installation showed a blowout growth. Data shows that by 2026, Hungary's newly installed photovoltaic capacity will reach 1.1GW, with a cumulative installed capacity exceeding 8.4GW. Photovoltaic power generation will account for as much as 25% of the country's total electricity generation. However, in sharp contrast, as of early 2026, Hungary's energy storage capacity is only 21MW, and the power grid is facing enormous peak shaving pressure and off grid risks.

It is in this context that General Technology Group has keenly captured the market's urgent needs. The 48MW/140MWh energy storage project signed this time, although the individual scale is not huge, has extremely high value behind it. The investment party of the project is Enlight Group, an internationally renowned power investor, and the financing party is European Commercial Bank. This marks that the capital structure of the project has been fully embedded in the local European financial system, rather than relying on one-way blood transfusion from Chinese banks. The project configuration can discharge continuously for nearly 3 hours at full power, effectively absorbing surplus photovoltaic power during the day and releasing it at night or during peak electricity consumption, significantly improving the stability and safety of the power grid. This is also the first large-scale grid side energy storage project won by a Chinese enterprise in Central and Eastern Europe, accurately responding to the Hungarian government's strategic goal of achieving 1GW of energy storage capacity by 2030.

Establishing a benchmark for full chain integration

From photovoltaic singles to photovoltaic storage synergy, General Technology Group has completed a strategic closed loop from power generation to peak shaving in Hungary. The synergistic effect of 1+1 greater than 2 is reshaping the competitiveness of China's new energy going global. Keywords: Middle East news and information, optical storage

On the one hand, the business model has achieved diversification. The investment, construction, operation, and retirement of the Koboshburg project and the EPC general contracting of the energy storage project complement each other, enabling General Technology Group's business chain to cover the entire process of investment, construction, operation, and management. On the other hand, substantial breakthroughs have been made in the integration of rules. Under strict policy barriers such as the EU Net Zero Industries Act, General Technology Group has successfully passed the entry test of the European market through technology benchmarking and compliance management. Relying on Hungary as a strategic pivot, China Machinery Europe has extended its reach to countries such as Italy and Serbia, and has completed a total of 7 third-party EPC photovoltaic projects in Italy. From output products to output solutions, from capital integration to standard docking, General Technology Group not only provides a Chinese solution for Central and Eastern European countries to solve stability anxiety in energy transformation, but also explores a stable and far-reaching new path for China's clean energy industry to achieve high-quality overseas development in a complex international environment.Editor/Gao Xue