The Austrian wind energy association IG Windkraft is proposing a new fund to boost grid investments.
After the country’s E-Control’s announcement that network costs could rise by up to 30% in the coming year, IG Windkraft are proposing the establishment of a generation fund – an “Electricity Asfinag”.
This would ensure the necessary network conversion and the network costs to make it sustainable for the economy, industry and the population, it argued.
Austria’s network infrastructure needs an update so that it can continue to transport cheap, clean and safe energy in the future and enable our prosperity and economic location for the next 100 years.
E-Control recently announced that network costs will have to be increased from January 1, 2025 – up to 30% in individual federal states.
By 2030, 40% of investments in the networks (approx. €30bn) will go to renovation, and by 2040 even 44% if Austria does not want to risk a broken infrastructure like in Germany or the USA, according to IG Windkraft.
This generational project must be made fair and affordable, it argued, by spreading the costs of renewal and conversion over generations in order to keep network costs for the economy, industry and the population as low as possible.
Florian Maringer, managing director of IG Windkraft, said: “An exciting model for the new federal government would be the establishment of a ‘Strom-Asfinag’, which would finance part of the necessary expansion and modernization of the electricity network in the long term.
“If we can do this with highways, we can also do this with the power grid.
“In this way we can secure the basic infrastructure for the future of our country and create the foundation for future prosperity.”
In addition to a significant acceleration of the process through concrete steps such as an ElWG or increasing the authorities’ resources, this is a cardinal point to ensure long-term, safe and cheap clean energy for households and the business location.
The proposed model could be designed as an independent society.
Similar to ASFINAG, this can enable financing to be budget-friendly. In addition, such a company could raise capital very cheaply on the capital market or issue green bonds to finance necessary investments.
Maringer added: “Cheap financing options are key for such an investment project: with decades of financing of, for example, 10 billion euros, even one percent interest savings bring enormous advantages.
“Disputes between the federal states or between the federal and state governments are not necessary; what is important is quick and pragmatic solutions that enable affordable infrastructure.
“It is up to the new federal government to implement these solutions.”