Photo: LFZ / Buchgraber
Renewable sources of energy in Austria
The share of electricity from hydropower, biomass, wind, and solar energy in the total energy consumption of presently 70 percent is to be further raised.
Apart from the security of supply and competitiveness, the sustainable use of energy, which minimises environmental impacts and saves resources, is the key objective of European energy policy. The dominant environmental stress caused by the generation and the use of energy is the emission of greenhouse gases. For their reduction, internationally and nationally binding targets have been laid down.In 2002 Austria ratified the Kyoto Protocol whose target it intends to achieve by means of the Austrian Climate Strategy. Core issues of the Climate Strategy are the raising of the share of renewable energy sources for power generation and subsidies for short-distance biomass heating systems.
Which energy sources are renewables?
· Hydropower
· Solar energy
· Wind energy
· Energy from biomass
How high is presently the share of renewable sources of energy used in Austria? From 2002 to 2005 the renewables saw an increase from 298.7 PJ to 307.5 PJ; that is a rise by 1.6 percent. The share of renewable energy sources in the gross domestic consumption was therefore about 21.7 percent in 2002 and about 20.0 percent in 2005. This is due to the fact that the total energy consumption saw a marked rise.
Approximately two thirds of the total amount of energy produced in Austria are from renewable sources of energy. With this figure Austria holds a top position within the European Union.
According to the background documentation of the European Commission on the “Energy Package 2007” (EC 2007) Austria with a share of about 21 percent ranged fourth in the field of renewable energy in the total energy consumption of Member States after Latvia (36 percent), Sweden (26 percent) and Finland (24 percent).
In 2004 Austria thus contributed 5.9 percent to Europe’s energy production from renewable sources of energy.
In compliance with the EU Renewable Energy Directive Austria aims at increasing its share of electricity from hydroelectric power, biomass, wind and solar energy in the total power consumption from presently 70 percent to 78 percent by 2010. Moreover, the use of biomass (solid, liquid and gaseous) is to be raised by 75 percent until 2010.
The 2008 targets of at least 4 % for "new" renewable sources of energy (wind, biomass, photovoltaics, geothermics) and at least 9% for small-scale hydraulic power plants, set forth under the Austrian Eco-Electricity Act ("Ökostromgesetz"), are considerably improving the market position and, thus, the successive expansion of clean forms of energy.
The production of electricity from hydropower depends strongly on the water levels of rivers. By the construction of pumped storage hydro power stations, base load power (also from imports) is increasingly converted into peak current.
Major increases in the period 2002-2005 were observed concerning the production from wind energy. As of June 2006 facilities with an installed capacity of 960 MW were in operation as a consequence of the subsidisation of green electricity. At the end of March 2006 totally 171 wind farms with 641 wind wheels and a total capacity of 993 MW were approved.
Due to the important role wood is playing as a domestic fuel, Austria is holding a top position within the European Union with respect to its biomass share, too. Austria is also leading in the production of modern wood and pellets furnaces as well as in the installation of modern biomass district heating systems.
In late June 2006 due to the promotion of green electricity biomass (thermal) power stations with a total capacity of 235 MW and biogas plants with a total capacity of 57 MW started operation.
25.08.2008, Lebensministerium Öffentlichkeitsarbeit