2024-04-05 10:01:22
The share of renewable electricity generation in the public electricity supply rose to 86.5 percent in the first quarter – significant increases in hydropower, wind power and PV – Austria is becoming an electricity exporter despite the winter months
Austria is well on its way to achieving its goal of 100 percent electricity from renewable sources by 2030. This is shown by the figures from the Association of European Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E) for the first quarter of 2024: Sun, wind and water generated 86.5 percent of the public net electricity supply in Austria. In recent years, the proportion in the comparable period has been between 50 and 60 percent.
“In 2021, we decided on the 100 percent green electricity target for the first time. Today it is within reach. That’s exactly what the green electricity figures from the first quarter prove. Green electricity instead of Russian natural gas – we will succeed in this switch by 2030. And that is good because our cheap domestic energy makes us independent, strengthens the industrial location and secures additional jobs,” says Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler.
Trend reversal heralded
The winter months are usually characterized by a higher demand for imports and a higher proportion of fossil energy than in the rest of the year. In the first quarter of 2023, a fifth of the electricity required had to be imported. This year, Austria switched from an importer to an exporter of electricity due to increased production from renewables. The Climate Protection Ministry’s intensive work on expanding renewable energies is bearing fruit; the energy transition is well underway.
Running water contributed the most electricity with 7,336 gigawatt hours (GWh) or 48.1 percent of net public electricity generation (33.8 percent in the first quarter of 2023). Wind power also increased by 25 percent to 3,224 GWh (first quarter of 2023: 2,573 GWh). The share of photovoltaics in public net electricity generation has even quadrupled (730 GWh in the first quarter of 2024, 177 GWh in the first quarter of 2023). The numbers come from ENTSO-E and are below Energycharts available.
Comparison of the first quarters of the years 2021-2024 Period Renewable Fossil Import balance 2024 86.5% 13.5% 0% 2023 60.7% 19.9% 19.5% 2022 52.8% 26.3% 20, 9% 2021 51.3% 24% 24.7%
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