Hungary

Overall assessment

In the agreed Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) Plan, Hungary will receive EUR 6.5 billion grant and EUR 3.9 billion loan, while it was entitled to 7.17 bln and EUR 9.66 bln respectively. In February 2019, the Government launched a comprehensive programme to help the 300 most disadvantaged settlements to catch up. The programme leader is the NGO called "Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta". 40 municipalities have been selected by the central programme manager to install photovoltaic power plants, and the 3,500 households to be supported will be selected with the involvement of local staff.

Detailed assessment

General: allocation, definition, transposition

Specific allocation for energy communities

A centralised programme for social PV installations in the poorest settlements of Hungary is planned as a special type of energy community.

Definition of energy communities in line with EU legislation

Only a certain type of energy community is mentioned and it is only referred to as a generating unit served by the investment. This programme is coordinated by the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta. This narrow delimitation of the concept of energy communities is not in line with EU Directives.

Proportionality of share of total fund allocated to energy communities

Within the total funds in the RRF dedicated to grid improvements to integrate more RE production, smart metering or individual RES instalments, there is no prioritisation of energy communities over private ownership.

It should be noted that the community energy movement in Hungary is still small, with no fully operational energy community projects to date (there are many pilot ECs in various phases/before launch). Yet, concrete financial support from the RRF could help get more of these pilot projects off the ground, therefore the allocation of funds is considered disproportionate.

Availability of tailored financing tools

Only grants will be available as a form of financing for energy communities. Different financing tools available that fit different situations (e.g., loans, guarantees, blended finance) are not foreseen.

Link to a wider scope of activities and objectives

Link between energy communities, building renovation and energy efficiency

The scheme does not mention a link between energy communities, building renovation and energy efficiency.

All the profit from installed PV capacities in most vulnerable settlements of Hungary (country-wide project led by the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta) should go to energy-poor households, but without the need of energy efficiency measures.

Therefore, there are no built-in incentives in the program to help citizens with energy efficiency & housing renovation activities.

Recognition of energy communities under multiple objectives

Energy communities are explicitly linked with the tackling of energy poverty, especially in the context of disadvantaged settlements. There are no other links to additional objectives.

Transparency and inclusiveness

Holistic strategy to provide financing across different levels of project development

There is no holistic strategy in place to provide financing across different levels of project development (i.e., facilitating grid acess, one stop shops, awareness raising & capacity building, pilot financing, administrative, business model and legal advice)

Transparency of the design and communication of the schemes and measures

Despite the Government organising a public consultation on the Recovery and Resilience Plan, not many of the suggestions by civil society were taken into account.

Selection criteria and the prioritisation of various social components

The selection criteria emphasise energy communities that tackle energy poverty. Other than this, the criteria are not deeply elaborated.

Decentralised tender process

Open calls under the Hungarian Recovery and Resilience Fund are centralised.

Existence of procedures to facilitate the participation of energy communities in open calls

There are no procedures yet to facilitate the participation of energy communities in open calls.

Stability and predictability of the programme through time

An operation is in place to collect lessons learned on local implementation of the RRF programmes. The collected information will be used to improve the next steps of the centralised programme.

REPowerEU

Inclusion of energy communities in national REPowerEU chapter

More information can be found in the REPowerEU tab of the tracker.