The draft of a huge EU solar tender for the residential sector was published by the Hungarian Government at the end of August 2021. The draft proposal shows that households earning less than the national average income will be eligible for 100% non-repayable grants of between HUF 3-11.5 million (EUR 8,500 – 31,500) for green investment purposes.
According to the draft, applicants receive the grant based on what type of project they want to complete (i.e. installation of a solar system alone, installation of solar panels and heating modernization with a heating panel, or installation of solar panels and heating modernization with a heat pump). The total budget of the tender is expected to be around HUF 201 billion (EUR 572 million), which is mainly provided for by the EU recovery fund to help alleviate the effects of the coronavirus crisis. The tender is expected to result in 175 megawatts of newly installed solar capacity in Hungary. Around 35 000 households are expected to apply for the grants, which means a huge demand of solar panels and installation works.
The solar sector in Hungary was developing rapidly in the last two decades, the trend of shifting to renewable sources for energy supply, developing solar projects both for industrial and residential buildings to achieve a sustainable economy is now a crucial part of the Hungarian infrastructure. Solar installation in all sectors (commercial, residential, utility) is increasing every year with most of the added capacity in the utility sector. Even during the pandemic, the PV industry kept growing, with more than 100 GWp installed till the end of January 2021. In the latest Hungarian tender (for all types and sizes of solar projects) issued in April 2021, a total of 1009 GWh of support demand was submitted in the applications, which compared to the 300 GWh to be allocated, means an oversubscription of around three and a half times.
With the introduction of the above residential tender, similarly high residential interest is expected, which means that the solar and the renewable energy sector, along with companies operating in this field can receive a significant boost both in manufacturing, installation and maintenance service demands. However, it is important to note that contractors wanting to participate will need to pre-register, as only registered companies will be able to participate in the tender.
Regarding the scheduling of the tender, contacting the registered contractors will be possible from the beginning of October 2021 and from the beginning of November 2021 it will be possible to conclude a pre-contract with the contractor. The tender will be launched in four phases until February 2022, with the first phase starting on 15 November 2021 and ending in mid-December 2021.
By Eszter Kamocsay-Berta, Managing Partner, KCG Partners Law Firm
