CMS Expert Guide to Agrivoltaics and Floating Photovoltaics in Hungary

Agrivoltaics are recognized by Hungarian legislation, however, detailed regulation is not yet available. Act CXXIX of 2007 on the protection of agricultural land (the „Agricultural Land Act”), pursuant to an amendment adopted in 2021, provides in its Section 9(2) that „It shall not be deemed an alternative use of agricultural land, if a solar power plant generating electricity is developed and operated on the land in the agrophotovoltaic system in accordance with the decree issued for the implementation of this act, provided that the power plant does not impede the use of the underlying land as agricultural land in one of the cultivation methods specified in Section 2(1).” Section 66(1) of the Agricultural Land Act provides authority to the Government to adopt the “detailed regulation of development and operation of agrophotovoltaic power plants in relation to land protection”.  The implementation decree of the Agricultural Land Act or any other legislation on agrophotovoltaic power plants has not been adopted yet, therefore detailed regulation of agrivoltaics is not available at present. Detailed regulation would be essential for the successful and sustainable growth of agrivoltaics in Hungary. 

There are currently no large-scale operational agrivoltaic projects in Hungary. However, when the detailed legislation is adopted interest in agrivoltaic projects is expected to grow. 

One of the key regulatory hurdles is the absence of detailed regulation. Another regulatory hurdle is the lack of feed-in-capacity to the public grid. This situation is a general obstacle for any new power plant development, and it is highly anticipated that there will be regulation by the Government in this regard. 

Hungary has significant potential for agrivoltaics due to its extensive agricultural land and favourable solar conditions, which can optimise land use by generating renewable energy while supporting farming. Agrovoltaics allow for renewable energy production on fertile land and can also increase the production of crops due to the shading effect and the use of steel structures for watering. Therefore, agrivoltaics projects would be an ideal way for increasing renewable energy production while maintaining agricultural activities. However, this is not mentioned in the National Energy and Climate Plan (updated 2024) of Hungary nor in the National Energy Strategy 2030. 

As of now, there are no specific financial support programmes in Hungary dedicated exclusively to agrivoltaics.

FPV are not regulated in Hungary. They are not mentioned in the National Energy and Climate Plan (updated 2024) of Hungary nor in the National Energy Strategy 2030 either. 

In the lack of a legal framework and detailed regulation no FPV projects have been developed in Hungary so far. 

The lack of a legal framework and detailed regulation of FPV projects is a regulatory hurdle. 

As Hungary does not have a sea, floating PV projects could be developed only on rivers, lakes and dams. 

Currently, Hungary has not implemented a standard procedure for financing FPV projects.