As a central player in the energy industry, Austrian Power Grid (APG) paves the way for a supply-secure energy transition in Austria with its electricity infrastructure. The energy transition is the prerequisite for achieving the country's climate and energy targets, which are clearly defined: By 2030, Austria's total electricity consumption of around 80 TWh is to come from renewable energies, and the total installed capacity of renewables (approx. 36,000 MW) has to be manageable. The goal is to make Austria climate-neutral by 2040. "Achieving these goals is a mammoth task, which involves not only the decarbonization of energy production but also managing the transformation of the entire system without jeopardizing the security of supply. For this to succeed, it is necessary to expand renewable plants and the trans-regional electricity grid in a coordinated manner as part of an overall system development plan, which also has to include a storage strategy," says Gerhard Christiner, CTO at APG.
Diagnosis of status quo: power system is at its limit
APG's existing grid, the current legal framework and the conditions in the energy industry to date will not suffice to cope with future challenges. The list of shortcomings includes the lack of connection capacities for renewable energies, the steadily increasing necessity of redispatch measures (to date in 2023: €125 million compared to €94 million total costs in 2022), noticeable electricity price differences between Austria and neighboring countries (approx. €26/MWh in 2022 with an economic loss of approx. €2 billion), the occasional need to shut down hydropower or wind power plants to avoid grid overloads, approval procedures that take far too long, inadequate digital interconnectivity of the players in the energy system, and the lack of coordinated overall system planning, including a storage strategy.
APG’s 9 billion euro grid of the future: key for supply-secure energy transition
APG is legally required to establish a grid development plan. In this context the Austrian TSO has analyzed the current insufficiencies, taken into account the high demands on its grid and planned the necessary investment projects in addition to ongoing investments. By 2034, this € 9 billion investment program will almost double the transformer capacity to 57,000 MVA, increase the number of substations by about 39 percent to 90 and the number of transformers by about 74 percent to 165; it will strengthen the entire west-east axis of the system with the new construction, conversion or reinforcement of about 500 km of 380 kV and about 400 km of 220 kV power lines. This will create the basis for making the approximately 500,000 production facilities physically and digitally manageable.
In addition to the projects that are already being implemented, such as the project for a secure electricity supply in the central region of Upper Austria, the Salzburg and Germany lines, future key projects such as the Carinthia grid area and the project cluster ‘Austria East’ are projected. "With this investment program we are not only providing the answer to facilitating the energy industry's goals for the period up to 2030 and beyond in terms of grid technology, but are also giving a significant impetus to strengthen Austria as location for business and industry and place to live. The expansion of the electricity grid and all APG projects must be given the highest priority. Any procedural delay or uncertainty is not only a threat to the country’s security of supply, it also delays the integration of renewables and the decarbonization of industrial processes. The most recent example, the project ‘secure electricity supply Central Upper Austria’ shows that the existing legal framework does not do justice to the importance of grid projects to facilitate decarbonization or the energy transition. This must be remedied immediately - the implementation of the Austrian Electricity Industry and Organization Act 2010 (Elektrizitätswirtschaft- und -organisationsgesetz, ElWOG) and the Renewable Energy Expansion Act (Erneuerbaren-Ausbaugesetz, EABG) are therefore the order of the day," Christiner demands.
APG’s grid development plan 2023-2034 will be published at the end of 2023 after approval by the Austrian regulatory authority E-Control.
Action plan for supply-secure energy transition
In addition to the immediate implementation of all expansion projects both at the levels of distribution and transmission grids, APG calls for an action plan to facilitate an affordable and supply-secure energy transition:
- Massive acceleration of approval procedures: implementation of the most recent amendments of the Electricity Industry and Organization Act, Energy Expansion Act, implementation of RED III in national law
- Establish the Integrated Austrian Network Infrastructure Plan (ÖNIP) as high-impact strategy paper for grid expansion projects, including a strategic environmental assessment process[bs1]
- Comprehensive overall system planning, which integrates production and consumption targets with storage and grid expansion strategies at all the levels of local and regional entities
- A regulatory framework with market-compliant rates of return that supports investments
- Standardization of threshold values and protection of existing and planned power line routes
- Sufficient resources for relevant authorities (personnel, experts, etc.)
APG’s CTO Gerhard Christiner: "The plan for APG’s future grid is on the table. We know what needs to be done. Now we urgently need support both from society and politics so that all the planned storage, digitalization and grid expansion projects can be implemented to facilitate the energy transition without jeopardizing the security of electricity supply. If this does not succeed, Austria's future will be at stake. We do not know what consequences this would have for Austria as a business location.”
About Austrian Power Grid (APG)
As independent transmission system operator Austrian Power Grid (APG) is in charge of ensuring the security of electricity supply in Austria. With our high-performance and digital electricity infrastructure and the use of state-of-the-art technologies we integrate renewable energies, we are the platform for the electricity market, and we provide access to reasonably priced electricity for Austria’s consumers and thus create the basis for Austria as supply-secure industrial and business location and place to live. The APG grid totals a length of about 3,400 km and is operated, maintained and continuously adapted to the increasing challenges of the electrification of businesses, industry and society by a team of approximately 733 specialists. Thanks to our committed employees Austria had a security of supply of 99.99 percent also in 2022 and thus ranks among the top countries worldwide. Our investments of 490 million euros in 2023 (2022: 370 million euros) are a motor for the Austrian economy and a crucial factor in reaching Austria’s climate and energy targets. Until 2032 APG will invest a total of approximately 3.5 billion euros in grid expansion and renovation projects, which amounts to approximately 19 percent of the total of 18 billion euros which the energy industry will invest in the grid infrastructure over the next ten years.
[bs1]„sup’ierung“ – ist das mit Sup’ierung gemeint? Strategische Umweltprüfung?
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