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					</table><p>The <a href="https://commission.europa.eu/index_en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European Commission</a> has approved Hungary&#8217;s €1.1 billion (~$1.2 billion) program to support electricity storage facilities, aiming to accelerate the country&#8217;s transition into a net-zero economy.</p>
<p>Under the program, Hungary plans to install a minimum of 800 MW/1,600 MWh of new electricity storage facilities, enhancing the flexibility of its electricity-generating system. The support will facilitate the seamless integration of a high capacity of variable renewable energy sources into the grid.</p>
<p>The program will be open to energy sector companies in Hungary, excluding financial institutions, and will allow cross-border participation, enabling storage facilities in the neighboring Member States.</p>
<p>Selection of storage projects will be made through a competitive bidding process, with grant contracts expected to be awarded by the end of 2024.</p>
<p>The aid will be provided in two forms: an investment grant, disbursed during the construction phase of the supported projects, and a two-way contract for difference (CfD), providing support annually during the initial ten years of operation.</p>
<p>The investment grant will be financed partly by the Recovery and Resilience Facility and partly by the Modernization Fund, while the 10-year annual support will be funded through a levy.</p>
<p>&#8220;This Hungarian measure will facilitate the development of electricity storage capacity. The Hungarian electricity system will be more flexible. The preparation for higher integration of renewables into the electricity mix is in line with EU climate and energy targets,&#8221; said Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy at the Commission.</p>
<p>The approved funding comes under the State Aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/eu-transition-towards-net-zero-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adopted</a> by the Commission in March 2023, to aid sectors crucial for promoting the green transition and reducing fuel dependencies, particularly in Russia&#8217;s conflict with Ukraine.</p>
<p>The European Commission concluded that the Hungarian program aligns with the conditions outlined in the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework. It ensures openness to all storage technologies, grants aid through a competitive process and requires completion of storage facilities within 36 months of contract signing by the end of 2025.</p>
<p>The approved program is considered necessary, appropriate, and proportionate to expedite the green transition and foster the development of key economic activities that align with the REPower EU Plan and the Green Deal Industrial Plan.</p>
<p>The Commission in February <a href="https://mercomindia.com/eu-e250-billion-green-industrial-plan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">presented</a> the Green Deal Industrial Plan to enhance the competitiveness of Europe&#8217;s net-zero industry and support the fast transition to climate neutrality.</p>
<p>In December last year, the European Union’s Modernisation Fund <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/eu-disbursed-e4-billion-green-energy-transition-eight-countries" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disbursed</a> €74.3 million (~$78.87 million) to Hungary to modernize energy systems, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/arjun-joshi/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Arjun Joshi</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Arjun-Joshi-1.png" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Arjun Joshi,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/arjun-joshi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Arjun Joshi.</a></p>
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<p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Arjun-Joshi-1.png" width="86" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/arjun-joshi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong style="color: #00b451">Arjun Joshi</strong> </a>is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Before joining Mercom, he worked as a technical writer for enterprise resource software companies based in India and abroad. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Psychology, and Optional English from Garden City University, Bangalore. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/arjun-joshi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Arjun Joshi.</a></p>
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European Commission Okays $1.2 Billion Aid for Hungary’s Energy Storage Program

<p>The second renewable energy tender issued by the Hungarian Energy and Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (<a href="http://www.mekh.hu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MEKH</a>) has received a phenomenal response. The 390 GWh tender was oversubscribed by 1,755 GWh, receiving bids for 2,145 GWh.</p>
<p>According to a government statement, the tender was oversubscribed by 5.5 times, and the vast majority of the applicants plan to build solar power projects. The total capacity offered for solar projects was 1.34 GW. The government also received bids for a power project utilizing geothermal and landfill gas.</p>
<p>The tender was floated in July, and the last date for submitting the bids was October 15, 2020.</p>
<p>The bid prices offered by the bidders were aggressive despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the weak foreign exchange rates. The lowest bid submitted was Hungarian Forint (HUF) 16.18 (~$0.05)/kWh, and the highest bid was HUF 26.65 (~$0.08)/kWh. The average bid price was HUF 21.69 (~$0.07)/kWh.</p>
<p>Earlier in 2019, the tender floated by the Hungarian Renewable Energy Support System (METAR) saw the average bid price offered of HUF 23.58 (~$0.08)/kWh and the average bidding price of the winning bidders ended up as HUF 24.81 (~$0.08)/kWh in the small category and HUF 21.69 (~$0.07)/kWh in the large category.</p>
<p>The government expects the bids for the 2020 tender to decrease significantly when compared to last year.  The results of this tender and the names of the successful bidders will be announced in January 2021.</p>
<p>European countries are eyeing major renewable expansion in the coming decade. Recently, the European Commission <a href="https://mercomindia.com/ec-fund-promote-sustainable-projects/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced</a> that it would launch a €1 billion (~$ 1.16 billion) European Green Deal call for research and innovation projects to tackle the climate crisis and safeguard Europe’s ecosystem and biodiversity.</p>
<p>Also, the European Investment Bank recently <a href="https://mercomindia.com/eib-3-55-billion-for-renewable-expansion-in-europe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> that it would provide €3 billion (~$3.55 billion) for renewable energy projects across Europe. This would be a part of EIB’s €12.6 billion (~$14.93 billion) plan for new funding for transport, clean energy, and urban development.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Rakesh Ranjan</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rakesh-Headshot-crop-2.jpg" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Rakesh Ranjan,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Rakesh Ranjan.</a></p>
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<p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rakesh-Headshot-crop-2.jpg" width="77" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong style="color: #00b451">Rakesh Ranjan</strong></a> is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Prior to joining Mercom, he worked in many roles as a business correspondent, assistant editor, senior content writer, and sub-editor with bcfocus.com, CIOReview/Silicon India, Verbinden Communication, and Bangalore Bias. Rakesh holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" rel="noopener noreferrer">More articles from Rakesh Ranjan.</a></p>
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Solar the Most Popular Choice in Hungary’s 1.3 GW Second Renewable Tender

<p>Solar developer <a href="http://www.renesolapower.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ReneSola Power</a> announced that it had raised €10.64 million (~$12 million) through bridge funding from <a href="https://www.eib.org/en/products/equity/funds/eiffel_energy_transition_fund" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eiffel Energy Transition Fund</a> to construct 19 MW of solar projects in Poland.</p>
<p>ReneSola Power said that this was the second bridge financing that Eiffel Energy Transition Fund had provided the company. The funds would be used to expand its project development and execution efforts in Hungary and Poland, according to the company’s statement.</p>
<p>“Despite ongoing challenging macro conditions related to COVID-19, we have begun the construction of the 19 MW solar projects in Poland. We are very pleased with our progress and look forward to further supporting solar development in the years ahead,” said Yumin Liu, ReneSola Power Chief Executive Officer.</p>
<p>ReneSola Power has pipeline projects with a total capacity of 29 MW and 26.7 MW in Poland and Hungary, respectively. The company set the target to have pipeline capacities of 150 MW in Poland and 100 MW in Hungary by the end of 2020.</p>
<p>“We have successfully developed solar projects in Poland and have sold over 81 MW of projects in the last four years. Poland remains a key market for ReneSola Power, and we are committed to our strategy to expand our business further and become a major player in Poland and other European markets,” said Josef Kastner, CEO of ReneSola Power Europe.</p>
<p>Eiffel Energy Transition Fund is a dedicated fund that grants flexible bridge financing for renewable energy projects across Europe. The European Union Bank sponsored the fund, which was managed by France-based asset management firm <a href="https://www.eiffel-ig.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eiffel Investment Group</a>.</p>
<p>In April 2020, ReneSola <a href="https://mercomindia.com/renesola-investment-solar-module-manufacturing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had announced</a> that it signed a $100 million strategic investment agreement with the Zhongnan Industry, a subsidiary of Zhongnan Holding Group. Both companies are headquartered in China. According to the agreement, Zhongnan Industry would invest $100 million to strengthen ReneSola’s solar module manufacturing supply chain.</p>
<p>Notably, total corporate funding for solar – including venture capital funding, public market, and debt financing – <a href="https://mercomindia.com/corporate-funding-solar-slid-globally/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dipped</a> 25% to $4.5 billion (~₹336.1 billion) in the first half of 2020 from $6 billion (~₹448.1 billion) in the same period last year. The findings were revealed in Mercom Capital Group’s recently released <a href="https://mercomcapital.com/product/1h-q2-2020-solar-funding-ma-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1H and Q2 2020 Solar Funding and M&amp;A Report</a>. The report explained that even though there was a considerable fall in funding activity, things were not as bad as it could have been given the ongoing coronavirus crisis, which has put the global economy in turmoil. The report covered 203 companies and investors from around the world.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/harsh-shukla/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Harsh Shukla</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Harsh-Shukla-293x300-1-new.jpg" width="99" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/harsh-shukla/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong style="color: #00b451">Harsh Shukla</strong> </a>is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Previously with Indian Express, he has covered general interest stories. He holds a Masters Degree in Journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/harsh-shukla/">More articles from Harsh Shukla.</a></p>
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ReneSola Power Raises $12 Million to Construct 19 MW of Solar Projects in Poland

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