- Austria Achieves Milestone of Installing Over 1 GW of Solar PV Capacity in 2022.
- Upper Austria contributed the highest capacity addition of 243 MW, while Vorarlberg reported the lowest capacity addition of 28 MW.
- The country has achieved anincrease in its solar PV capacity, reaching nearly 3.8 GW.
- PV Austria statesthat in order to meet the targets of 13 GW by 2030 and 50 GW by 2040, the country will need to install a minimum of 1.2 GW between 2023 and 2030, and 2.6 GW annually between 2023 and 2040, respectively.
Photovoltaic Austria Federal Association (PV Austria) has provided information indicating that Austria installed over 1 GW of new solar PV capacity in 2022. This signifies that the country achieves the milestone in taking its cumulative installed PV capacity to 3.79 GW for the first year.
Among the regions of Austria, Upper Austria contributed the largest share of the newly added capacity, installing 243 MW. Lower Austria and Styria followed closely behind with installations of 234 MW and 147 MW, respectively. Vorarlberg were reported to have the lowest deployments, with 28 MW, Burgenland and Salzburg with 39 MW and 40 MW, respectively.
When considering the cumulative basis, solar power now accounts for 6.6% of the national electricity demand.
Despite the substantial progress of adding 1.009 GW in 2022, PV Austria emphasizes that Austria remains far from achieving its target of 13 GW of installed PV capacity by 2030. To meet this goal, the country will need to install at least 1.2 GW annually between 2023 and 2030. Furthermore, in order to attain its climate neutrality aim and reach the 50 GW target by 2040, Austria is supposed to install a minimum of 2.6 GW annually between 2023 and 2040.
PV Austria’s Chairman of the Board, Herbert Pair, acknowledges that while progress is being made with the “low-hanging fruit” of solar PV installation, there is still a significant gap to bridge in order to meet the 2030 target. He emphasizes the need for even greater effort to achieve the 2040 goal.
During this period, the association notes that system prices in Austria have increased by 10%, reaching a level comparable to that of eight years ago. The market for solar PV installations continues to rely heavily on subsidies, with approximately 90% of the installed PV and PV+storage systems being funded by the government.
In 2021, Austria saw a substantial improvement in solar PV installations, adding 740 MW, representing a 117% increase from the 341 MW installed in 2020.
From TAIYANG News
