Retail District Heating Prices Unchanged in Spite of Modified District Heating Regulation2011. december 5.
The ministry in charge incorporated a number of statutory specifications, identified and found professionally justified and reasonable after wide consultations and past experiences, in the new regulatory system for district heating, announced János Bencsik, Secretary of State for Energy Issues and Climate Policy at the inauguration ceremony of the energy saving project of SZÉPHŐ Zrt. on December 1, 2011 in Székesfehérvár.
Already in effect, the minister’s decree amends the minister’s decree which determined district heating sales fees and the district heating allowance, based on changes in the economic environment, gas prices, changes arising from a review of justified costs, and on feedback from the sector. The fees payable by district heat producers and the related district heating subsidies will change, but retail district heating prices will remain fixed. The prices effective on March 31, 2011 will continue to apply to district heating provided to both households and institutions that are treated separately. The purpose of adjusting the system is to increase supply safety by ensuring sustainable and safe operation and by applying a pricing system that will not cause additional and unjustified burdens for consumers. The costs of fine tuning will be fully covered by 10 billion forints from the intervention fund which will utilise surplus revenues from the related structural reform fee.
The Secretary of State said that the newly established government approved approximately 3.5 billion forints of development subsidies for altogether 17 district heating services within the New Széchenyi Plan. The improvements will result in a total of 213,000 GJ of annual energy saving, leaving 760 million forints per year with the institutions concerned, and decreasing green house emissions by some 15 thousand tons per year.
The total cost of the Székesfehérvár project of SZÉPHŐ Zrt., a company owned by the local government, is close to 150 million forints, of which the New Széchenyi Plan provides some 74 million forints of non-refundable subsidy. In addition to heat insulation in the façade and to the replacement of the obsolete doors and windows, which generated a huge heat loss, a gas fuelled absorption heat pump was installed to satisfy all heating and hot water needs of the company’s central building in the future. Annual energy saving is expected to reach 1757 GJ and carbon dioxide emission will decrease by some 100 tons per year. The technology upgrading will lead to close to four million forints of primary energy carrier cost saving.
The Ministry of National Development will announce a call for proposals of a budget of 700 million forints to support the renovation of single-channel collector chimneys within the New Széchenyi Plan. Financing will be provided for the safety technology upgrading of the buildings of condominiums, housing co-operatives and local government tenements. Financing will be non-refundable and ex post in each case. Proposals may be electronically submitted from December 5, 2011, Mr Bencsik added.