Compared to neighboring European countries, Austria’s solar portfolio is modest and in 2017 the Austrian wind group IG Windkraft reported a decline in clean energy consumption by 1.2% to 72.2%. Despite the decline, in 2018 renewables accounted for 29% of the total energy supply which ranked sixth in International Energy Agency (IEA) countries. The majority of the electricity came from bioenergy and hydropower (60%) thus, the new government elected in 2020 aimed to increase solar and wind production through feed-in tariffs and decreasing deployment costs. Austria aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040 and requires a net increase of 22-27TWh in renewable energy production in order to do so. The Austrian government aims to install 1 million PV systems by 2030, which is a substantial increase from the previous 100,000 by 2030 goal.
1) Kelag (Austria)
The Austrian energy group aims to stake their foothold in the Austrian renewables sector through investments in solar projects and more recently, with the acquisition of local solar developer PVI. In January 2022, Kelag purchases the solar developer based in Klagenfurt which have been responsible for the development of solar parks across Italy, Croatia, and Bosnia. The acquisition is a follow-on investment from Kelag’s joint venture with Unser Kraftwerk and GREENoneTECH to develop Austria’s largest solar park at the time. The Friesach solar park consists of 436 PV panels and will produce 2.8m kWh per year.
2) Verbund (Austria)
The Austrian energy producer has followed the current trend into renewables with investments in solar, wind, and hydrogen to combat the ongoing energy crisis. In 2020, Verbund joined forces with fellow Austrian energy giant OMV to finance the largest solar park to be developed at that time. The Schönkirchen site was developed by KPV Solar and consists of 34,600 PV modules, generating 10.96GW of solar-powered electricity per year.
3) OMV (Austria)
The Austrian oil and gas company announced plans to invest €4.5m in the Lobau site located outside Vienna. The project once fully operational will have an installed capacity of 5.59MW and will be used to power its operations. The solar park represents the second solar investment by the group, having been involved in the joint venture with Verbund in 2020.
Image Source Unsplash 27.07.2022
