Government brakes wind power: Folk survey in Schenkenfelden disappointed!

Government brakes wind power: Folk survey in Schenkenfelden disappointed!

Waidhofen an der Thaya, Österreich - In the home wind industry there should be little to celebrate at the moment. As the The press reports, the industry fights against a large number of hurdles that slowly slow down the expansion of wind power in Austria. Whether it is the frequent changes to the energy crisis contribution that companies take for planning, or skepticism about the new Electricity Economic Act (ELWG) - wind power is fighting on several fronts. The situation in Schenkenfelden, where a referendum has shown that 56 percent of the population of a reconciliation for the planned wind farm, has given a clear cancellation.

"We don't just build wind turbines, we create the future," says Stefanie Markut, director of Web Windenergie AG, with its headquarters in Pfaffenschlag, Lower Austria. It is great to regret the disinformation campaigns, because Markut is convinced that the affected countries and communities can only benefit from wind power projects. The sector has been on a shaky foundation for a long time: The Windkraft interest group (IG Windkraft) sees the industry in trouble when it comes to implementing planned projects.

energy crisis contribution causes unrest

The energy crisis contribution, which has existed since October 2022, is currently causing an emerging unrest. From the perspective of those affected, the new regulation with their "erratic changes" is a serious obstacle. The current limit for so -called "oversprints" is 90 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), and profits that are above are skimmed up to support budget renovation. This measure was taken due to the high energy prices and has established itself as an emergency measure - not only in Austria, but throughout Europe, as the BZST

Due to these additional loads, domestic wind power companies get to the limits of their economic possibilities. In total, these companies have projects with an investment volume of 4.7 billion euros in the pipeline - and that alone in Lower Austria. IV chief economist Christian Helmenstein emphasizes that wind power already contributes almost half a billion euros to the gross domestic product and secures over 1300 jobs. He warns: "The wind power is of enormous importance".

Hope for the expansion by 2030

The pressure is great when it comes to reaching the expansion goals by 2030. If you create this, an additional 7 billion euros could be invested in wind power, which can be expected to have a contribution of 1.8 billion euros to gross value added. The difference in the investments could primarily be explained by the import of wind turbines, which means that local companies come under pressure. It remains to be seen whether the industry can free itself from this dilemma.

It seems that the wind power is "removed from the sails in several ways". The uncertainty in the legal framework combined with skepticism among the population could strongly endanger the ambitious plans for wind power in Austria.

The coming weeks and months will show whether the government can smooth the waves and increase acceptance among the population. Until then, there is a certain level of skepticism, which is also fed through the new ELWG, which is still in the final phase of development. However, the hope of greater promotion of wind power is unbroken, because the need for renewable energies will not be smaller in the future.

For more information on the topics of energy and wind power, visit Eurostat.