Energie AG Oberösterreich terminates PV feed-in contracts for 20,000 clients

The feed-in tariffs for photovoltaic (PV) techniques are falling sharply. On Tuesday, Energie AG introduced that just about 20,000 PV system homeowners who feed in electrical energy might be knowledgeable within the subsequent few days that their contracts might be terminated on the finish of June.
Up to now you’ve gotten acquired not less than 15.73 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). The contracts had been concluded through the excessive value interval till mid-2023.

You may be supplied a brand new, versatile tariff mannequin that gives month-to-month costs and relies on market developments, utilizing the so-called reference market worth for photovoltaics, calculated by the regulatory authority E-Management. In April the worth was 3.12 cents. The feeders would solely have acquired this a lot if the brand new tariff mannequin already existed. From 2025 there may also be an extra low cost for transaction prices and dangers of 1.50 cents per kWh.

“We’ve got to regulate the tariffs,” says Klaus Dorninger, Managing Director of Energie-AG Gross sales: “The developments on the markets are holding us very busy.” Lately, as reported, market electrical energy costs have fluctuated very strongly. In some circumstances, electrical energy surpluses have led to unfavorable costs on the inventory exchanges.

For feeders, Energie AG units a decrease restrict of two cents per kilowatt hour fed in, says second gross sales managing director Alexander Marchner. Nevertheless, this solely applies to those that are additionally vitality buy clients of Energie AG. For the others, the decrease restrict is zero.
Since 2023, round 3,000 PV techniques have been put into operation each month within the community space of Energie-AG subsidiary Netz OÖ. The height electrical energy consumption in Higher Austria is at the moment 1.8 gigawatts (GW), and the height PV era will climb to 2 GW by the top of the yr.

“Unjustifiably excessive extra revenue”

For Robert Tichler, head of the Vitality Institute on the Johannes Kepler College in Linz, the tariff reductions for feed-in suppliers are comprehensible: “The aim of PV funding is to not obtain important earnings.” He sees “unjustifiably excessive extra revenue” and factors out that It’s nonetheless engaging to put money into PV techniques – with amortization now maybe inside 15 years as a substitute of 4, which is justifiable with a lifespan of 25 years.

Above all, households with out PV techniques would in any other case “cross-subsidize these with outsized techniques”. The enlargement of PV stays essential as a result of the demand for electrical energy will improve sooner or later. Along with the 20,000, Energie AG has round 7,000 different PV feeders who already obtain a decrease tariff (4.5 cents).

Others have additionally diminished charges. The state settlement company OeMAG, for instance, paid 4.655 cents for April. The affiliation pays six cents. At Linz AG it’s 3.49 cents for brand new clients, however there are additionally previous contracts for round 15 cents. “We’re monitoring market developments,” say Linz AG, Verbund and Wels Strom. The latter pays 10.20 cents – however solely for individuals who feed electrical energy into the Wels community space and are additionally electrical energy buy clients.

When requested when Energie AG will cut back its tariffs for electrical energy clients (round 20 cents per working value), Dorninger says: “We are going to present info promptly.” The costs are because of the long-term procurement technique within the pursuits of safety of provide.