Background information

The government adopted a decision in 2019 to create a long-term programme to facilitate the development of the most disadvantaged 300 municipalities in Hungary. As a pilot project, a solar power plant was built in Tiszabő, in northeast Hungary, one of the eligible municipalities, which was accompanied by the installation of electric current consumption meters and power sockets in the selected households with children under the age of three. As a result, all the involved families became able to heat at least one of their rooms through electric heating panels for which they will have to pay a symbolic amount of monthly rent. The present project, launched in 2022 under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF-3.4.1-22), is based on the Tiszabő pilot project

Content of measure

The primary objective of the project is to increase the municipality-level solar energy production capacity by 25,000 kilowatts peak by the end of 2025 in Hungary, by installing mini solar power plants in 52 of the 300 most disadvantaged municipalities. The plants make it possible to introduce electric heating in many households that either had no access to heating or heated with wood or coal or by burning waste. The introduction of electric heating entails the installation of heating plates and prepayment meters in the households. The proceeds of the solar power plants will be used to rebate a part of the electrical heating costs for families in need who are residents of the involved municipalities, have young children and are selected through a tender procedure. The programme is implemented by the Hungarian branch of the Maltese Charity Service. The cost of the programme is HUF 12.92 billion (€33 million), financed entirely from the RRF facility.

Use of measure

According to the Maltese Charity, 13,600 dwellings will be connected to the network after the completion of the programme, out of the total of more than 80,000 dwellings in the 300 most disadvantaged municipalities. The number of families that receive rebates after their electricity costs is unknown – according to the Maltese Charity, the completion of the first phase (the installation of 12.500 kilowatts peak) will make it possible to subsidise 2,000 families with young children. A presentation of results in May 2024 said 20 PV plants have been built with capacity of 12513 kWp, all in disadvantaged localities. The selection of 2500 families to be included in the Green Heating (Zöld Fűtés) programme has begun. Families receive HUF 120,000 in the period of October 2024 to March 2025 in heating subsidies in the form of monthly top-ups to their pre-paid meters. Due to the rising costs of solar panel fitting, the programme is lacking HUF 4.7 billion for maintaining its original goal of building 25,000 kWp of solar power generators. According to the project website fete.hu, in the heating season of 2024/25, 20 solar plants produced electricity, and more than 1,000 familes received rebates after their electricity costs. This falls short of the originally envisaged 2,000 families supported in the first phase of the project.According to the project website fete.hu in April 2025, in the heating season of 2024/25, 20 solar plants produced electricity, and more than 1,000 families received rebates after their electricity costs. This falls short of the originally envisaged 2,000 families supported in the first phase of the project. According to the website in September 2025, 20 solar plants have been activated so far – which means no new addition since the end of the 2024/25 heating season. To date, only three additional solar plants are under construction, according to the website, which suggests that the original target – 52 solar plants – may not be met by the end of 2025.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Does not apply to businesses	Children (minors) People on low incomes

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
Other social actors (e.g. NGOs) Local / regional government Public support service providers	European Funds

Social partners

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

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

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

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

No social partners' involvement was reported.

Views and reactions

No known views by social partners.

Sources

• 05 July 2019: Govt decree 1404/2019 on the Catching up Settlements (FETE) programme (njt.hu)
• 12 November 2020: New solar plant provides heating for 300 children (index.hu)
• 04 February 2022: Community renewable energy generation (archive.palyazat.gov.hu)
• 11 April 2022: HUF 13bn for renewables support (www.kavosz.hu)
• 18 September 2023: Country's 2nd social solar power plant at wor (maltai.hu)
• 27 September 2023: Pilot project in Tiszabő (fete.hu)
• 04 October 2023: Energy - Maltese Charity (maltaialapitvany.hu)
• 29 December 2023: 21 new solar power plants at work for those in need (maltai.hu)
• 22 May 2024: Energy programme presentation May 2024 (fete.hu)
• 09 April 2025: Social solar power plants heats the homes of a thousand families in need (fete.hu)
• 03 June 2025: Call for applications for heating support in the 2025/26 heating season out (fete.hu)
• 18 September 2025: FETE website as of Sept 2025 (fete.hu)