Hungary: Summary
Updated: 07.01.2019
Support schemes
In Hungary, the support system for electricity from renewable sources is governed by the new Renewable Ener-gy Support Scheme (METÁR), which came into force 1 January 2017. The system is built on three pillars based on the plant’s installed capacity: a feed-in tariff (unchanged compared to the previous KÁT system; 50 kW-500 kW), a ‘green premium’ granted without tendering (0.5 MW-1 MW) and a ‘green premium’ granted through tender-ing procedures (>1 MW). Furthermore, a so-called ‘brown premium’ has been introduced for solid biomass and biogas plants; it serves as a technology-specific successor to the feed-in tariff. Additional support is provided by subsidy programmes for the use of renewable energy sources, mainly through the Environment and Energy Efficiency Operational Programme, but other invitations to tender are still to be published.
More about support schemesGrid issues
The Act on Electric Energy (Act No. LXXXVI of 2007) gives priority grid connection and access to electricity generated from renew-able energy. Furthermore, it imposes restrictions on electricity imports to the benefit of renewable energy. The costs for the con-nection of renewable energy plants to and the expansion of the grid are borne either by the plant operator or by the grid opera-tor, depending on certain criteria.
More about grid issuesPolicies
The following policies aim at promoting the installation, usage and distribution of RES-installations in Hungary. There are vocational trainings with some and limited relevance for RES-installations. Furthermore, there is a recommendation in place for considering the use of renewable energy sources in new buildings. This recom-mendation will turn into an obligation according to the standards set by the government for all buildings opera-tionalised after 31 December 2020, but will already be applicable to authority owned or used buildings opera-tionalised after 31 December 2018. Policies on certification programmes for RES installation and on the support of RES-H infrastructure are mainly provided in the Environment and Energy Efficiency Operational Programme and the Economic Development and Innovation Operational Programme.
More about policies
Hungary