E.ON SE's Hungarian grid unit wins HUF230B EU grant for network expansion
E.ON expects to match the EU grid grant with nearly HUF230B of its own spending across a four-year network program.
Ines Halvorsen
By 2030, another 2,323 megawatts of grid connection capacity are planned for E.ON SE ETREOAN OTCMKTSEONGY in Hungary, after its local business announced about 230 billion forints in EU support on Oct. 1. The utility plans to contribute nearly 230 billion forints itself, taking the four-year network program to around 460 billion forints, according to Világgazdaság's report from the launch. The European Union's Recovery and Resilience Facility provides the grant, which E.ON Hungária Group pairs with its own funding over four years.
The ETREOAN quote put E.ON shares at €17.02 on Xetra at 5:35 p.m. CEST on Oct. 2.
E.ON plans roughly 25,000 to 30,000 network upgrades over the four years to 2030, deputy chief executive Ádám Katona said at the Oct. 1 launch. The first-hand report described the grant as non-repayable, although it gave no schedule for disbursements. The work spans Budapest, Pest County and western Hungary, where the group runs the electricity distribution network. The 2,323-megawatt target describes new grid connection capacity, primarily for renewable energy producers, according to the Oct. 1 launch account.
Katona said the combined installed capacity of Hungary's industrial and household solar facilities and other commercial generators approached 9,000 megawatts in mid-2026. That was nearly 40 times the level a decade earlier, according to Katona's Oct. 1 remarks. Since 2022, E.ON Hungária has spent about 690 billion forints on network investment, Katona said; the newly announced program adds another planned round of work.
“The EU funds just awarded primarily help renewable energy producers connect to the grid,” Katona told Világgazdaság on Oct. 1, translated from Hungarian.
Grid Upgrades Run Through 2030
The network program calls for refurbishing existing substations, building new ones, establishing low-, medium- and high-voltage lines, and undertaking digital developments, according to Világgazdaság's Oct. 1 account. The Oct. 1 accounts give neither a transformer delivery date nor a commissioning date for any named substation.
Katona said E.ON and the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority have a schedule, updated every six months through 2030, for lifting restrictions on new grid connections in affected areas. The Oct. 1 report did not list individual reopening dates. It also said investments made as far back as 2022 may qualify for EU reimbursement, but Katona could not yet say how the claims would be calculated or how much might be repaid.
A separate grant of 13.5 billion forints supports E.ON Hungária's smart meter rollout by the end of 2028, according to Katona's Oct. 1 remarks. E.ON plans to install another 237,000 meters; nearly 600,000 were already in place when Katona spoke. The meter award is separate from the grid grant and carries its own 2028 deadline.
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The next stated delivery date is the end of 2028 for those 237,000 smart meters. E.ON's wider grid connection capacity target remains set for 2030.
