Publications
Dilemmas of renewable production supportPublished: 1 of June, 2011

From January 2012 the Hungarian Government plans to renew the support scheme of the renewable electricity generation. With the December 2010 expiration of the preceding regulatory period the question was raised about the type of tools to be used by the policy makers to achieve the goals of Hungary’s Renewable Energy Utilisation Action Plan (NCST). Last December it was rumored that a green certifi- cate system would be introduced. However, the modification of the Electricity Act published on 16. March 2011 foreshadows the development of a differentiated feed-in obligation scheme, based on the German support system, which would grant different feed-in tariffs based on nameplate power plant capacity, generation technology and date of commissioning. It became clear too, that the KÁT scheme will be downsized to support renewable electricity production only, separating itself from co-generated production. It seems obvious also that time had come for largescale biomass production, accounting for 70% of renewable electricity generation, since this technology is considered unfavorable. The new regulation is expected to be issued in July 2011. In this article, the risks of differentiated feed-in obligation scheme are evaluated, based on the Hungarian and international examples from the past years.