EU approves €1.1 billion worth Hungarian scheme for energy storage projects

The European Commission has approved a €1.1 billion worth Hungarian scheme to support the installation of at least 800 MW/ 1600 MWh of energy storage facilities to foster the country's transition to a net-zero economy. 

The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, adopted by the Commission to support measures in sectors which are key to accelerate the green transition and reduce fuel dependencies in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine. 

The state aid scheme aims at enhancing the flexibility of the Hungarian electricity system by supporting storage investments and facilitate smooth integration of high capacity of variable renewable energy sources in the the country's electricity system.

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The support will be open to companies active in the energy sector in Hungary, with the exception of financial institutions. It will also be open to cross-border participation involving storage facilities in neighboring EU member states, within the limits of available transmission capacity and taking into account the share of renewables in the energy mix of neighboring member nations. 

Further, the scheme is also technology-agnostic, which means all available storage technologies will be eligible for support. The storage projects will be selected through a competitive bidding process. The award of the grant contracts to the selected projects is planned to take place before the end of 2024.

The selected storage projects will have to be completed and put in operation within 36 months from the signing of the contract. The aid will be granted before 31 December 2025, to make the scheme compliant to European Commission's Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework.