Austria

The Austrian authorities allocated €40 million ($42.8 million) in the next round of the nation’s solar-plus-storage rebate scheme, across 11,000 projects. Rebates are available for PV installations up to 10 kW in size.

The new funds are part of a package of measures aimed at reducing the effects of the energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine.

The new owner — Wien-based Irma Power GmbH — is planning to maintain and expand module production at the company’s manufacturing facility in Liebenfels.

The Austrian authorities will use €20 million to provide more support for the country’s rebate scheme for residential PV projects up to 50 kW in size.

The country’s cumulative PV capacity exceeded 2 GW at the end of 2020.

The 11.5 MW solar park is operated by Austrian power provider Wien Energie. The plant includes sheep farming.

The Austrian government had devoted €50 million to the scheme for last year. These funds will enable the deployment of 15,957 PV systems.

Maxsolar is building a ground-mounted, 11.5 MW solar plant near Wien where 150 Jura will graze.

The government has ramped up its budget for the rebate scheme to €10 million.

Austrian power provider Verbund has shut down its coal-fired district heating plant in the state of Styria as planned. This means that coal power generation in Austria is now history, paving the way for a switch to a 100% renewable power supply by 2030. However, Photovoltaic Austria emphasizes that Austria needs a well-considered plan for clean energy, as a quarter of the nation’s electricity is still generated from fossil fuels.