EU Tracker – Local heating and cooling plans in Hungary
Summary
What is the status of the transposition of Art 25.6(EDD) and its implementation ?
Hungary is not ready to effectively implement EED article 25.6. New regulation and the establishment of an adequate regulatory framework will be needed.
Hungary has no regulatory framework in place for local heating and cooling planning. Hungary has established objectives to increase the renewable energy share and reduce its current high gas dependency for heating, but the role of local energy planning to reach objectives has not been addressed. District heating companies are requested to submit development plans annually to the national regulator, which however does not involve local authorities. Municipalities receive no technical or financial support for activities related to energy planning, and financial assistance to heat transition related projects is mainly provided as feed-in tariff and variable premium subsidies to energy suppliers. Local authorities find themselves without the required financial and skilled personnel resources to develop heating and cooling plans and lack a reliable and comprehensive access to energy and building-related geodata.
Detailed assessment
The legal framework and the obligations
No obligation for local authorities to develop local heating and cooling plans
Overview of the legal frameworks per governance level
| National | The Climate Protection Law from 2020 (XLIV) reaffirms Hungary’s commitment to climate-neutrality by 2050 as a legally binding obligation and sets out medium-term energy targets: i.e. after 2030. According to the law increases in final energy consumption above the 2005 level need to be provided exclusively from carbon-neutral energy sources, and renewable energy sources should reach at least a 21% share of gross final energy consumption by 2030. However, the law has a more general scope and specific measures for heating and cooling are not addressed. In its recently revised National energy and Climate Plan (NECP), Hungary plans to incrementally increase the share of renewable energy in heating and cooling. Between 2021 and 2025, there will be a 1% increase, and from 2026 to 2030, the goal is at least a 1.3% annual increase. Hungary also aims to replace up to a quarter of its natural gas imports, approximately 2 billion m3 of natural gas per year, through modernization and alternative heating methods. Energy efficiency is highly prioritised in the plan, particularly in reducing reliance on natural gas. The intention is to utilize renewable-based heating and cooling technologies to enhance overall energy efficiency, including district heating, heat pumps and geothermal energy. It also seeks to double its existing geothermal energy capacity by 2030. Hungary aims to reduce the share of natural gas in district heating to 50% by 2030, primarily by adopting renewable and waste-based technologies. Local spatial planning has however not been addressed as tool to reach these objectives. The Act on Energy Efficiency from 2015 (LVII) mandates a comprehensive assessment every five years to examine the feasibility of high-efficiency cogeneration and efficient district heating and cooling. This involves a national cost-benefit analysis to identify the most effective heating and cooling solutions. If the aforementioned solutions are found to be feasible and advantageous based on the analysis, it becomes the government’s duty to devise and execute measures aimed at improving district heating or cooling infrastructures. This could include aligning it with high-efficiency cogeneration and utilising heating energy from waste heat and renewable sources, but has so far not involved local authorities and spatial planning. |
The support framework
No support framework for drafting local heating and cooling plans
The support mechanism for heating and cooling planning in Hungary is notably inadequate. Local authorities often navigate these projects without clear guidance, as there are no established guidelines or technology catalogues. No dedicated financial support has so far been provided for local energy planning. Local authorities also face challenges accessing reliable and comprehensive energy-related geodata, often resorting to collecting their own data, which is costly and often incomplete for energy planning purposes.
Provided Support
| Technical and organisational | 1/5 | The technical support for local municipalities in heating and cooling plans is very limited. Local authorities often navigate these projects without clear guidance, as there are no established guidelines or technology catalogues provided. |
| Financial | 1/5 | In Hungary, the support mechanisms for local heating and cooling plans are deficient, with no known financial allocation to local planning. The Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority has implemented the Hungarian Renewable Energy Support System (METÁR), which provides financial support to energy suppliers to increase the share of renewable energy in combined power and heat plants (mostly biomass). Externally secured funding for replacing gas heating sources in co-ownership building has also been provided through the ‘Radiator Replacement Program’. Under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, Hungary initiated an investment program to support residential solar panel systems and heating systems combined with solar panels. By 2026, this initiative is projected to lead to approximately 140-175 MW of installed solar cell capacity and 50 MW of installed electric heating system capacity. No funding directly targeting local authorities has however nevertheless been announced. |
| Staff & skills | 1/5 | Hungary has a severe shortage of staff in local administrations dedicated to energy planning. In most municipalities, one or two staff members cover all sustainability topics. Training programs aimed at improving adaptation to the impacts of climate change at the municipal level have been conducted, such as the Klímaválasz training, but there are no known training programs specifically focused on building capacity for climate mitigation and energy planning. Overall, there is a substantial knowledge gap in local administrations, which hinders local energy and climate planning and action. In the absence of a specialised energy efficiency agency to foster the development of technical skills and financial measures, and to streamline access to energy efficiency initiatives, local authorities will find themselves unequipped to effectively manage technically intricate, long-term deep renovation projects. |
| Access to data | 2/5 | Local authorities face challenges accessing consistent and comprehensive energy-related geodata. The Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) offers some statistical data on energy supply and consumption, collected through the National Data Collection Programme (OSAP). However, the programme failed to meet the reporting obligations outlined in the current Energy Efficiency Directive. Municipalities can however require access to data on the supply of heat from district heating companies. Energy consumption data for electricity, gas and heat is however only available for the municipality buildings and social services, which is often collected on a six-month basis. Building-related data is accessible, encompassing information such as heating systems, heating fuels, and building age, while data on energy performance standards and building surface is limited. In terms of renewable energy potential, data is available for photovoltaic potential, waste heat from incinerators, biogas generated from wastewater treatment, and biomass potential. However, it is mostly based on stationary data, calculated on a yearly basis. Municipalities have partial access to the spatial positioning of energy grids for electricity, gas, and district heating, but the data is not always official or complete. The remaining capacity in network segments is known for the electricity and occasionally for the district heating, but not for the gas sector. |
