METÁR vs KÁT vs METÁROLÓ in 2026: what each scheme pays and who can join

KÁT (kötelező átvételi rendszer) is the legacy fixed-price scheme, closed to new plants of 0.2 MW or more. METÁR (Megújuló Támogatási Rendszer) is the current green premium, won in tenders as a two-way contract for difference. METÁROLÓ is the government's name for a grant and revenue compensation programme for grid batteries. Only KÁT and METÁR pay for solar generation.

What is the difference between KÁT, METÁR and METÁROLÓ?

They are three separate schemes with different legal bases, counterparties and entry conditions, as of October 2026. Under KÁT the offtaker (befogadó, in practice MAVIR, the transmission system operator or TSO) must buy the output at a fixed price. Under METÁR the producer sells on the market and receives a premium on top. MEKH is the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority. CPI is the consumer price index. aFRR is automatic frequency restoration reserve, a grid balancing product.

How does KÁT work in 2026?

KÁT pays a fixed price per kWh for a set period, and the offtaker must buy the output (Decree 299/2017, section 11(1)). As of October 2026 it is closed. The deadline to apply for a MEKH entitlement decision ended five days after Decree 81/2018 took effect (section 18(7)).

• Entitlement. A MEKH decision fixes the annual energy and the period. The entitlement ends when the period runs out or the total energy is sold, whichever comes first (section 18(5)).
• Small new plants. No decision is needed for a plant commissioned by 31 December 2025 and below 0.4 MW, or commissioned from 1 January 2026 and below 0.2 MW (section 10(2)). Its price equals the monthly reference market price (Annex 1, point 4). Household-size plants fall outside the decree.
• Leaving KÁT. A producer can leave the KÁT balancing group only by signing a premium support contract. The supported price becomes the average of its current KÁT prices over flat production, times a factor of 1 for solar. The period stays the same and the producer cannot return (section 3(1)).
• Scheduling. KÁT producers submit generation schedules and pay a regulation surcharge (szabályozási pótdíj) when they deviate (section 12). If a battery shares the connection point, the KÁT volume is metered separately (Decree 389/2007, section 3(11a)).

What is the KÁT price in 2026?

The price depends on plant type and connection date. Wattler, citing MAVIR, tabulates these prices for solar plants, unchanged from 2024 to 2026:

Price indexation is frozen until 31 December 2029 under section 5/A of Decree 389/2007. The freeze lifts for any year in which the latest annual CPI reaches 1.06, and it does not cover producers that switch to premium settlement. It began as emergency Decree 7/2025, which was repealed on 1 August 2025, and the consolidated text now carries it in section 5/A. MEKH publishes each year's KÁT prices in January.

How does the METÁR green premium work?

The METÁR green premium (zöld prémium) pays the gap between a supported price and a reference market price, in both directions. The producer sells its power on the market and settles the premium with the offtaker. If the reference price is above the supported price, the producer pays the difference back (Decree 299/2017, section 14(2)).

• Reference price. For solar, it is the monthly average of day-ahead prices, weighted by the output of all solar plants in KÁT or premium support (section 15(1)). The offtaker publishes it by the fifth working day of the next month. A park is therefore paid against the solar-weighted market average, not its own realised price. Its balancing costs, power purchase agreement (PPA) discounts and curtailment stay with the owner.
• Eligibility. The plant must be a new investment. Support cannot go to a project whose construction log was opened, or whose construction started, before the award (section 6(1)). Producers with certain tax debts or past sanctions are excluded (section 20). Plants of 1 MW and above, and wind, win the premium in a tender (section 13(3)). Since the 99/2019 amendment, no one can apply for a green premium outside a tender (section 18(8)).
• Duration. The premium can run for up to 20 years (section 17(2)). The MEKH decision sets the maximum energy, the support period and the deadline for commercial operation, and a missed deadline voids the entitlement (section 18). Other state aid shortens the period. The premium contract cannot be ended early (section 16(3)).
• Indexation. The supported price is indexed each January by CPI minus 1 percentage point (section 14(7) and Annex 2).
• Brown premium. The brown premium (barna prémium) is a separate form for existing biomass or biogas plants. MEKH grants it for 5 years by decision, reviews it every year, and holds no tender for it (section 13(4)). Solar plants cannot receive it.

What happens to support in negative-price periods?

Only METÁR has a negative-price cut-off in the decree texts, and it depends on a run of negative units.

• KÁT. Neither decree text contains a negative-price clause for KÁT, so the fixed price is paid. Section 15(4) of Decree 299/2017 is addressed to premium-supported producers (premizált termelők).
• METÁR. No premium is paid for output in the negative-price units that section 15(4) of Decree 299/2017 counts, which depends on a run of at least six consecutive negative units. Check the unit length in the offtaker's rules.
• METÁROLÓ. MEKH decree 17/2023 has no negative-price cut-off. The benchmark's arbitrage term uses the average of the four highest-priced and the average of the four lowest-priced day-ahead hours of each day (Annex 1), not the battery's own dispatch.

The unit length matters because the decree does not define it. Before 1 March 2025 the rule counted six consecutive hours, and it still does for solid biomass (section 15(4a)). The Energy Ministry told the Constitutional Court in May 2026 that the units are now quarter-hours, because the HUPX day-ahead market moved from hourly to 15-minute periods, so a run of six lasts 1.5 hours (6 x 0.25 hour). The ministry's position on a solar producer's constitutional complaint (case IV/1928/2025) says so, and CMS Hungary read Decree 26/2025 the same way in March 2025.

The ministry's document words the effect in two ways: no premium after a 1.5-hour run, and no supported volume for the six quarter-hours themselves. Whether the first six units are paid is therefore a question for the offtaker's rules and for counsel.

What is METÁROLÓ?

METÁROLÓ is the government's name for its HUF 62 billion programme of investment grants and revenue compensation for energy storage. A kormany.hu release of December 2023 uses the name, and MAVIR used it at its market forum in 2026 (Portfolio.hu). The decrees speak of villamosenergia-tárolói bevételkompenzáció, electricity storage revenue compensation.

• Design. A MEKH presentation of October 2023 says the European Commission approved the state aid in June 2023, with an estimated budget of EUR 1.1 billion for at least 800 MW / 1,600 MWh of new storage and 440 MW / 880 MWh in the first round. Winners get an investment grant of up to EUR 350,000 per MW (capped at 45% of cost) and a ten-year revenue compensation. Decree 235/2025 sets the funding framework, and MEKH decree 17/2023 sets the calculation.
• Eligibility. The beneficiary holds a support contract from the tender and a revenue compensation contract with MAVIR. The MEKH presentation lists these conditions: at least 2 MWh per MW, aFRR accreditation (alone from 5 MW, or through an aggregator), at least 10 years of operation, and newly installed or repowered storage. Each call sets its own criteria. A solar park can take part only through a storage unit that wins a place.
• Calculation. Compensation is the monthly supported net revenue minus a reference net revenue (decree 17/2023, sections 2 to 4). The supported figure is the bid in EUR per kW per year, times awarded power, a degradation factor and the EUR/HUF rate. The reference is a MEKH formula, not the battery's actual earnings. It adds aFRR capacity revenue and a wholesale benchmark, then subtracts a fixed charging cost. If the supported figure is lower, the operator pays the difference back.
• Limits. Payouts cannot exceed the eligible investment cost compounded at 10% a year, and no compensation can be claimed while the degradation factor is below 70% (sections 2 and 3).
• Duration. The right lasts 120 months from the contract taking effect. The contract takes effect on the first day of the month after aFRR accreditation, and not before 1 January 2026 (section 11).

What is the 2026 status of METÁROLÓ?

Round 1 was reported in April 2024 as about 50 projects with 440 MW and HUF 62 billion, due to be built by the end of April 2026 (pv magazine). At its 2026 forum MAVIR reported about 500 MW / 1,000 MWh across 55 bidders and 70 projects, with first settlements by January 2026. A Solarplaza webinar page from July 2026 says the second round is on hold while a new government forms.

Does Decree 131/2026 change these schemes?

The headings of Decree 131/2026 (VIII. 28.) list amendments to Decree 235/2025, the funding rules for operating support and storage compensation, and to other decrees. They do not list Decrees 299/2017 or 389/2007. The explainer on Decree 131/2026 covers it in full.

Can a new solar park get support in 2026?

Public sources show no open KÁT route and no METÁR call since March 2022, so a new solar park of meaningful size relies on market and PPA revenue. The article on solar capture rates explains what that revenue looks like.

• KÁT admits a new plant without a decision only below 0.2 MW.
• METÁR calls are issued by MEKH at the request of the energy minister (Decree 62/2016 NFM, section 4(2)). The decree's table of annual limits on new support runs to 2026 and shows HUF 548 million for each year from 2022 (Annex 1, point 4).
• The latest call opened on 4 March 2022, with bids from 25 to 28 March. TaiyangNews reported 864 GWh a year in two size bands (5 to 20 MW and 20 to 50 MW) and a condition that each plant add a battery of at least 10% of its capacity.
• Its results, announced on 24 June 2022 (Portfolio.hu, citing MEKH), were 12 winning bids, all solar, with 271 MW of solar and at least 27 MW of batteries, 435 GWh a year and an average bid of HUF 25.16 per kWh.
• Since then, a June 2023 law-firm survey still names March 2022 as the last tender, and no later call appears in public reporting. MEKH's tender page is where one would be announced.

What this means for solar park owners, investors and buyers

The scheme a plant sits in decides its price risk, so the first task is to read its MEKH decision and contracts.

• KÁT owners. The price is fixed per kWh and not indexed until 2029 unless CPI reaches 1.06. The switch to premium settlement is one-way. Before switching, read the premium contract's negative-price terms and compare the result with PPA and market revenue.
• METÁR holders. The premium moves with the solar-weighted reference price, so market-wide price falls pass to the offtaker. Plant-specific costs stay with the owner, and output in the negative-price units described above earns no premium.
• Buyers. A KÁT or METÁR entitlement continues after a sale only for the time and energy that remain, and the new owner must apply to MEKH for it (section 6(2)). The guide to buying a solar park in Hungary covers the process.
• Storage. METÁROLÓ is open to tender winners only, and round 2 is reported on hold. Revenue for other batteries comes from the markets in the article on battery revenue streams in Hungary. SolServices describes its own battery project in a separate article, and the battery storage programme page has the company's public figures.