Commission approves Austrian scheme to support production of electricity from renewable energy sources
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The measure will help Austria reach its target of 100% renewable energy in 2030, in line with its Recovery and Resilience Plan as endorsed by the Commission and approved by Council, and will contribute to the European objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, without unduly distorting competition in the Single market.
Austria notified the Commission of its intention to introduce a scheme to support electricity produced from renewable energy sources (namely wind, solar, hydro, biomass and biogas).
Under the scheme, the aid will take the form of a top-up premium, calculated as the difference between the average production cost for each renewable technology and the electricity market price.
In particular for electricity produced from wind, solar energy and biomass, the aid will be granted through technology specific competitive bidding processes, which should contribute to keep the support proportionate and cost-effective. Austria has also foreseen mixed technology tenders including wind and hydro in their framework.
Austria also committed to open the renewables support scheme to energy producers established outside Austria, subject to the conclusion of bilateral or multilateral cooperation agreements with other countries.
The measure will apply until the end of 2030. The aid will be paid out to the selected beneficiaries for a period of maximum 20 years from the starting of the operation of the plant. Payments under the scheme have been estimated to amount to around €4.4 billion until end 2032.
Austria has set itself the target to increase the share of electricity produced from renewable energy sources from the current 75 % to 100% in 2030. ■