As already exclusively reported in the OÖNachrichten, the “Loop” program envisages that Energie AG will be very strongly geared towards renewable energy in the coming years. In addition to the pumped storage power plant in Ebensee, which is to be built at a cost of 451.3 million euros by 2028, it is planned that an additional 1.2 terawatt hours of electricity will be produced from photovoltaics, wind power and hydropower. 450 gigawatt hours are from PV, 540 from wind, 200 GWh relate to hydropower. 60 percent of investments are made in Austria, 40 percent abroad. This means that Energie AG is taking on significantly more than before. “Photovoltaics and wind are the lever for the ambitious goals,” says CEO Leonhard Schitter.
What the goals mean can be estimated based on concrete measures. The PV plans correspond 60 times to the Eberstalzell solar park; for wind energy, Energie wants to build 25 large wind turbines in Upper Austria itself, but also wants to participate in projects in Germany, Italy and Slovenia. It is immensely important that both solar and wind are expanded because the two forms of generation complement each other well over the year, says Chief Technology Officer Stefan Stallinger. “The Ebensee pumped storage power plant helps to manage this balance.
Of the planned four billion euros in investments, around half goes to expanding the electricity grid. These are intended to enable Energie AG to expand the number of charging points for electromobility from the current 2,000 to 50,000 and to support half of the likely 200,000 heat pumps in the country, which are intended to replace fossil fuel heating systems, especially in rural areas.
The fact that the decision to build Ebensee has only now been made also has to do with the fact that the economic operation would not have been viable until some time ago, says CFO Andreas Kolar. This would not be possible with electricity prices of 20 euros per megawatt hour. But now the general conditions have changed significantly, adds Stallinger, as much cheaper surplus electricity is now being generated with PV systems at lunchtime. This could be stored in Ebensee. Ebensee is expected to supply balancing energy from 2028. In a storage lake almost 500 meters above Lake Traunsee, 1.3 million water could then be used to produce electricity for 300,000 households for ten hours with an output of 170 megawatts.
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