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Factsheet for measure HU-2021-50/2811 – Updated – measures in Hungary

Solar panel programme for residents

Lakossági napelemes pályázat

Country Hungary , applies nationwide
Time period Temporary, 06 December 2021 – 05 December 2022
Context War in Ukraine, Green Transition, European Semester
Type Other initiatives or policies
Category Measures to prevent social hardship
– Keeping or obtaining a safe home
Author Nóra Krokovay (KOPINT-Tárki) and Eurofound
Measure added 07 September 2022 (updated 27 February 2023)

Background information

The government published on its website a call for grants supporting solar investments and complex heating system upgrades in the homes of private individuals in December 2021. In September 2022, the government announced that in response to the energy crisis, a second phase of the solar programme will be brought forward from its planned original date of spring 2023 to November 2022.

Content of measure

Households with below-average incomes are eligible. The first winners for the first phase were announced in August 2022. The call for the second phase is again grouped into four regions and deadlines for submissions are 28 November 2022 and 5 December 2022. Funding for the programme is expected to come from the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The measure is aimed at reducing the energy bills of households. The programme started with a budget of over HUF 200 billion or about €500 million. Only individuals with annual gross incomes of HUF 4.85 million (€12,125) or less can apply, which compares to the average gross monthly salary of HUF 503,500 or HUF 6.042 million a year (June 2022, central statistical office data). The amounts that can be awarded range from HUF 500,000 to HUF 2.9 million for just solar panels and HUF 11.3 million for complex heating systems. Winners of the grants must build their solar/heating systems within 20 or 26 months of receiving their grant contracts. Builders must register in the government database set up for this purpose in order to be eligible for implementing a project. The database currently includes 1,615 contractors.

Updates

The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.

18 November 2022

The second call planned for November 2022 was suspended due to “too much strain on the network”, the government said in October, telex.hu reported. In addition, newly-installed household-sized (residential) plants are now prevented from feeding the produced electricity into the grid for an indefinite period. In a related development, the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority MEKH issued a decree, which, with immediate effect, puts an end to the very beneficial net metering practice, which made it possible for solar power generators to consume the same amount of electricity any time of the year that they feed into the system at various times (when there is sunshine). Although it had been known, partly to come in line with the EU’s Clean Energy package, that net metering would be terminated, sector experts say the new rules came as a surprise and will hurt the investment returns of people who had already invested in solar panel systems. Also, unlike in other countries, the government intends to introduce gross metering not just for household-sized plants installed from 2024 but for the already existing plants as well

Use of measure

There were four rounds in the first call, with different parts of the country assigned to each round. A total of 43,379 applications were received in the first call, of which 22,177 were approved and HUF 71.31 billion (€178.28m) were awarded as of September 2022, according to the government tenders website palyazat.gov.hu. Tens of thousands of households are expected to benefit from the second call, which was published in September 2022.

In February 2023 the tenders website palyazat.gov.hu showed that 35,082 applications were approved and HUF 121.97 billion (€312.74m) were awarded so far in the scheme. Of this amount HUF 9.7 billion (€25.5m) has been transferred.

Target groups

Workers Businesses Citizens
Does not apply to workers Sector specific set of companies
Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors Funding
National government
European Funds
National funds
National Recovery and Resilience Facility

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

Trade unions Employers' organisations
Role Informed Informed
Form Not applicable Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

  • No involvement
  • Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

Comments on the programme and the call were invited on the government’s website. A Recovery and Resiliance Facility (RRF) Monitoring Committee has been set up to oversee projects including the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, MKIK and two trade union representatives (the National Association of Workers 'Councils [MOSZ] and the Democratic League of Independent Trade Unions [Liga]). Other members are from ministries and civil organizations, such as the Energyclub, the Men’s Club, the National Association of Large Families, etc. The Monitoring Committee meets once a year, the next meeting is expected in the autumn of 2022. In the meantime, the members receive the drafts of the calls by e-mail.

Views and reactions

Most of the 219 comments received on the government website welcomed the programme. The NGO Energiaklub said in its comment on the government website that criteria for the grant should include a south-facing orientation for the solar panels and that low-income households should be prioritised in the awarding process. The solar power group MNNSZ turned to the newly appointed energy minister in a letter with a proposal in December 2022, asking for a review of “detrimental” regulations introduced in November 2022

Sectors and occupations

    • Economic area Sector (NACE level 2)
      D - Electricity, Gas, Steam And Air Conditioning Supply D35 Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2022), Solar panel programme for residents, measure HU-2021-50/2811 (measures in Hungary), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/HU-2021-50_2811.html

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Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.