Austria's energy revolution: Record with renewable power supply!
Austria's energy revolution: Record with renewable power supply!
Austria made significant progress in the field of renewable energies in 2023 and 2024. According to a current report by E-Control, 95 percent of electricity consumption was already covered by renewable energy sources in 2024, which is a record value. Despite global uncertainties and fluctuating feed -in, the power supply in Austria remains stable and secured. The appointment of Austria as net exporter in 2024, after a period as a net importer, illustrates the success of this energy transition.
The monitoring report of e-control emphasizes that the security of supply was at a high level of both 2023 and 2024. The strong expansion of photovoltaics played a crucial role, with around 2,100 megawatts (MW) new to PV performance. Overall, the generated PV performance is around 8,600 MW. In addition, electricity generation rose to around 82 terawatt hours (TWH), while the power consumption was around 64.5 TWh.
Mix and challenges
The generation mix for 2024 is composed as follows: Around 60 percent come from hydropower, followed by 20 percent of wind and solar energy. Fossil power plants contribute almost 15 percent to electricity production, while CO2-neutral thermal sources, such as biomass, make up about 5 percent. Despite this successful mix, there are challenges, in particular the time decoupling of electricity generation and consumption. While photovoltaics delivers high yields at noon and summer, consumption is usually the highest in the evening and in winter.
In order to meet these challenges, flexible and controllable forms of production are necessary. This includes storage water works or gas power plants, which are to be replaced by CO2-neutral alternatives such as large battery storage or geothermal energy in the long term. The forecasts for 2030 are approved because 95 percent of the electricity requirement can be covered from renewable sources.
price development and market conditions
The wholesale prices for electricity were on average between 6 and 8 cents per kilowatt hour in 2024, with short -term price peaks of up to 90 cents, especially in winter 2024/25 due to lower feed -in and higher gas prices. From the spring of 2025 there could be negative electricity prices in several hours, which indicates a decline in prices in the coming years.
In the further course, a drop in prices will be forecast: For 2026, around 87 euros per megawatt hour will be considered realistic, while from 2028 with stable prices of around 74 euros.
The German Renewable Energy Market
wind energy forms the most important energy source in Germany with a share of a third in electricity production. The proportion of solar energy also rose to 13.9 percent, while conventional energy sources could be reduced to 38.5 percent, which means a decrease of 21.8 percent compared to the previous year.
In total, around 516,000 new solar systems with an output of 7.6 gigawatts were already installed in the first half of 2024. For the coming years, the Federal Government is planning a significant increase in the expansion of solar energy in order to cover at least 80 percent of gross current consumption from renewable sources by 2030.
Both countries thus focus strongly on the energy transition and the promotion of renewable energies in order to achieve their climate goals and to ensure energy security in the long term. Austria and Germany show how a sustainable energy future can be designed through targeted measures and investments in the area of renewable energies.
The final energy consumption for heat from renewable energies in Germany in 2024 amounted to around 197 TWh, which is an increase compared to 2023. In this context, a decline in biomass use for heating purposes has been recorded, while heat pumps increased by 15 percent. In the area of renewable energies 2024, companies made investments of 32 billion euros, which shows that the sector continues to develop dynamically.
Overall, the development of renewable energies in Austria and Germany is a positive signal for future energy supply and climate protection.
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| Ort | Österreich, Österreich |
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