In particular, the Electricity Industry Act, for which the assessment has already ended, and the Renewable Energy Expansion Acceleration Act must definitely be passed before the summer. If that doesn’t work, we’ll lose at least a year here
Barbara Schmidt, Secretary General of Austrian Energy
Vienna (OTS) – During today’s Council of Ministers, the federal government presented a series of laws that are to be passed in the current legislative period and made a clear commitment to security of supply. Many of these projects are of central importance for the e-economy and create the framework conditions for the further conversion of the energy system towards renewables. “In particular, the Electricity Industry Act, for which the assessment has already ended, and the Renewable Energy Expansion Acceleration Act must definitely be passed before the summer. If that doesn’t work, we’ll lose at least a year here.”
says Barbara Schmidt, Secretary General of Oesterreichs Energie, the interest group for the electronic economy.
The e-economy is currently in a phase of transition: by 2030, the annual electricity requirement is to be covered entirely from renewable sources, and the country is to be climate-neutral by 2040. In order to achieve these goals, numerous new power plants and storage facilities must be built in the coming years and the networks must be extensively expanded. “For this to succeed, we need modern legal bases and framework conditions that enable rapid expansion. From this perspective, we welcome today’s announcements by the Federal Government,” explains Barbara Schmidt.
E-economy insists on ElWG and EABG
The industry sees particular urgency in the adoption of the Electricity Industry Act (ElWG). “We are currently on the right track with this law. We appeal to all political representatives to continue to pursue this consistently in the coming weeks and then pass the law immediately,” said Schmidt. The second central legislative proposal from the perspective of the e-industry is the Renewable Energy Expansion Acceleration Act (EABG). It is intended to significantly speed up procedures for projects below the EIA threshold – and to anchor an “overriding public interest” for energy transition projects in national law. “This proposed law, which has been being worked on at full speed for a long time, should now be sent for review immediately,” said Schmidt.
In addition, the industry welcomes the clear commitment to the rapid expansion of the networks, the development of a carbon management strategy and the announcements regarding the ramp-up of the domestic hydrogen economy. With the announcement of the EAG regulations, also announced today, the brake on the expansion of renewables could finally be released again.
Questions & Contact:
Austria’s energy
Christian Zwittnig
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