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outline of austriaAustria

Austria has a FIT law.

Austria enacted the Ökostromgesetz in 2002, which was revised in 2006.  Ökostromgesetz, BGB1. I Nr. 149/2002, idF des BG BGB1. I Nr. 105/2006. You can read an English translation of the 2002 Ökostromgesetz (Green Electricity Act, Gazette I, no. 149/2002), but this does not include later revisions.

Summary

Austria's Green Electricity Act establishes the "eco-electricity procurement entity" (http://www.oem-ag.at/), which contracts individually with the renewable energy plant operators and pays for the electricity according to the specified feed-in-tariffs. The grid operators only have to certify the amount of electricity fed into the grid by the operators. The GEA then obliges the Electricity Traders (i.e. distributers, those companies which contract with end-users including industry) to buy from the procurement entity the renewable electricity to a fixed price, which is lower than the feed-in price (€ 10,33 for renewable electricity except hydro, 6, 47 for small hydro (≤10MW), (§ 19.1, 22b.2 and 3.). This price is set by the Energy Control Commission through Regulations. The Energy Control Commission is a private body set to oversee the liberalised energy market, established by the General Electricity Act.

The difference between the feed-in tariff and the purchasing price for the electricity traders is borne by a fee paid by all consumers ("Zählpunktpauschale"). The maximum support level for renewable energy electricity is fixed on 17 Mio €/year from 2007-2011, with waste/biomass 30%, biogas 30%, wind 30% and PV and the rest 10% (§§21a, 21b). This means that the purchasing entity is not entitled to buy renewable electricity for the feed in tariff if that annual budget is exceeded.

EC review and assessment

Read a summary of the European Commission’s 2005 review of Austria’s renewable electricity policies and of its 2007 assessment of Austria’s progress in meeting the target set out in Directive 2001/77/EC.

Legal analysis

There currently is no legal analysis of this law.  If you are a lawyer from Austria, and interested in submitting an analysis, or providing more up-to-date information about the current status of the renewable energy policy, we would be happy to hear form you. Contact us

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