Austrian agency OeMAG is allocating €135 million ($146.4 million) of incentives under Austria’s Renewable Energy Expansion Act (EAG).
The Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) has allocated €135 million for solar rebates in 2024.
Austrian agency OeMAG is distributing the incentives under the nation's EAG legislation. PV systems with a capacity of 35 kW to 1 MW are eligible for the scheme, while PV systems under 35 kW are not, as such installations have benefited from a value-added tax (VAT) exemption since January.
The funding is awarded in a bidding process, with bidding windows opening from April 15 to April 29, from June 12 to June 16, and from Oct. 7 to Oct. 21.
In 2023, the Austrian government devoted the record breaking sum of €600 million to the rebate program.
The new provisions also establish how much capacity should be tendered for large-scale renewable energy projects in the 2024-25 period. The Austrian authorities aim to assign 1.85 GW of PV, 1.08 GW of wind power, around 500 MW of hydropower capacity, and 40 MW of biomass.
The market premium awarded by the tender will compensate for the difference between the marketing revenue and the maximum price determined by the tender itself. The first tenders are scheduled to start in May.
Austria installed around 2 GW of new PV capacity in 2023. Its cumulative installed solar power reached around 5.9 GW at the end of December.