Electricity directly to the factory

Austria’s largest PV system is now connected to the grid

More than 60,000 modules generate electricity - the electricity yield only has a very short transport route without burdening public grids.(Bild: Jungbunzlauer)

The superlatives in the generation of alternative energy are currently coming thick and fast. Austria's largest photovoltaic system has now been connected to the grid in Pernhofen in the district of Mistelbach. It offers a decisive advantage: the consumer of the electricity, a large citric acid factory, is located right next door.

 While power generation panels in the landscape - like wind turbines - are viewed with skepticism, the location of the large PV plant of the world's largest citric acid production company Jungbunzlauer has a well-founded justification: This is because the output of around 60 gigawatt hours per year - roughly equivalent to the electricity consumption of 16,000 households - is not sent to overloaded power grids, but is fed into the large factory on the spot via the shortest route and consumed there immediately (depending on the current production volume).

A total of almost 60,000 modules have been installed, and there are plans to use these electricity generators for animal husbandry - sheep from a local farmer are kept in the PV area. A wind farm is also being planned, which will also supply the production facilities with energy.

"Smaller" plant has also been realized
But that's not all: additional PV modules have been installed on the large factory buildings - and electricity will also be generated on the covered employee parking spaces in future. This will be done separately in a smaller system, which can also be used to charge the employees' electric cars.