On 31 August 2026, the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority (MEKH) published its call for tenders, which is aimed primarily at allocating the free capacities available on the medium- and high-voltage networks to wind power plants.
The call is the first competitive capacity tender for wind power plants in almost 20 years. Under it, a total of 702 MVA of feed-in capacity can be applied for at 9 network nodes. The deadline for submitting tenders is 30 October 2026, and the results are expected to be announced by 13 December 2026 at the latest.
Alongside the call for tenders, comprehensive legislative amendments have also entered into force, which together fundamentally reshape the regulatory framework and the market for wind power. The Government’s declared aim is to increase domestic renewable energy production by supporting wind power development, and thereby to help make the energy supply more cost-efficient and more stable.
1. Main legislative changes
Government Decree 131/2026 (VIII. 28.) and GEM Decree 4/2026 (VIII. 28.) entered into force on 29 August 2026. For wind power plants, the main changes they contain concern the rules on simplified areas (könnyített térségek) and the rules on the tender procedures for allocating the free capacities available on the medium- and high-voltage networks.
As a result of the amendments, the number of areas qualifying as simplified areas has grown from the previous 8 to 25. A simplified area is a geographically delimited area designated by the minister responsible for energy policy that has particularly favourable conditions for the use of renewable energy sources; in the case of wind power plants, these are areas where the annual wind power density measured at a height of 150 metres is at least 400 W/m². In simplified areas, the administrative deadlines of the permitting procedures have also been shortened substantially: 30 days for environmental permitting procedures and 20 days for building permitting procedures.
A further substantial change, and one that signals the strongest long-term commitment to wind power development, is that MEKH is now obliged to issue at least one tender procedure per year for wind power grid connections. The declared goal is that, by 31 December 2030, a total of at least 4,000 MW of capacity be offered specifically for wind power plants in tender procedures.
2. MEKH capacity tender
MEKH issued the current tender on the basis of EM Decree 11/2025 (IV.10), at the request of the minister responsible for energy policy. Under the tender procedure, feed-in capacity can be won primarily for the construction or expansion of wind power plants and, as a secondary technology, for the construction of battery electricity storage systems.
Only a project company established specifically for this purpose may take part in the tender, provided that it employs, full-time, a permanent employee with at least 5 years of verifiable professional experience in the energy sector.
From a technical standpoint, tenders must relate to at least 14 MVA of available feed-in capacity and to the construction of a wind power plant with an installed capacity of 14 MW. The capacity that companies belonging to the same corporate group can win is capped: no more than 100 MVA per network node and no more than 200 MVA in total.
The tender also sets out financial conditions, namely a participation fee (HUF 3,000,000 per tender) and a bid security, which may be provided as a cash deposit or a bank guarantee (0.5% of the project’s benchmark investment value). Winning bidders will also have to provide a performance security (2.5% of the benchmark investment value). It is important to note that, when evaluating the tenders, the Authority gives particular weight to the one-off and annual local financial contributions offered to the municipalities affected by the project.
A further condition of participation is that bidders undertake to grant a call option over 25% of their ownership interest in the project company to renewable energy communities designated by the Government, which may exercise their call option within 2 years from the date on which the decision establishing the connection right becomes final.
The winners must put their wind power plants into commercial operation by 30 September 2032 at the latest, so the expansion of Hungary’s wind capacity, which has been stuck at 330 megawatts, may become a reality at the earliest at the beginning of the next decade.
In case you have any questions regarding the above, please contact our colleagues.
This article provides general information only. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the law in force at the date of publication and is not updated. Forgó, Damjanovic & Partners Law Firm accepts no liability for any loss arising from the use of the information contained in this article.
