Decisive advance

Attractive Europe bonus for photovoltaic systems

The two OeMAG board members Dr. Horst Brandlmaier and MMag. Gerhard Röthlin see the push to promote domestic value creation as an important impetus for the energy transition.(Bild: OeMAG)

With the "Made in Europe" bonus, Austria is providing an important boost for domestic and European production in the energy sector. OeMAG supports the energy transition and promotes PV systems made in Europe with up to 20 percent higher investment subsidies.

Austria is taking an important step towards supporting domestic and European production in the energy sector with the "Made in Europe" bonus, which has been regulated by law since the end of July.

OeMAG acts as the central processing office for green electricity and actively supports the energy transition. "The legislator wants to give preferential support to photovoltaic systems and electricity storage systems from European production as part of the Renewable Energy Expansion Act in order to create a home advantage for products produced in Europe," explains OeMAG board member MMag. Gerhard Röthlin in an interview with "Krone".

150 million euros for investment subsidies
The regulation for the implementation of the bonus is currently still pending, the legal framework allows for a surcharge of up to 20 percent on the investment subsidy for products and technical components of European added value.

"The federal government has made funds totaling 150 million available for investment subsidies this year, 135 million of which are for investment subsidies for PV systems. However, only systems of 35 kWp or more benefit from this, as smaller systems generally benefit from VAT exemption," says Dr. Horst Brandlmaier, member of the OeMAG Board of Directors.

In addition to investment subsidies, OeMAG also awards operating subsidies in the form of market premiums - these are also becoming increasingly popular for smaller systems. The market price on the European electricity exchanges in particular has been subject to exceptionally large price fluctuations in recent years.

Legislators want to give preferential support to photovoltaic systems and electricity storage systems manufactured in Europe as part of the Renewable Energy Expansion Act.(Bild: Krone Sonne)

Challenges on the energy market
Experts see the need to add sufficient flexible capacities in order to balance out the imbalances on the supply and demand side.

The necessary expansion of the grid infrastructure is also seen as a key challenge for renewable energies, according to the top management of OeMAG. "Security of supply needs strong electricity grids in order to absorb the enormous power peaks," explains Röthlin.

This requires both the expansion and intelligent use of the electricity grid infrastructure. Nevertheless, they are optimistic: the growing demand for clean energy promises a positive future.