Image: Photovoltaics/solar power
Farmers are obviously very interested. Ten areas with a total size of 32 hectares have so far been dedicated to agro-PV systems in Upper Austria. Agro-PV systems are used for agricultural and energy purposes at the same time, while the focus of ground-mounted PV systems is on generating electricity.
According to the new strategy, the top priority remains PV expansion on roofs, parking lots or roadside areas. Open-space systems on very good agricultural soils will remain taboo in the future. They may only be built on the two worst (of five) credit ratings; dual use is possible on medium-sized floors. Soils in the best levels 4 and 5 are reserved for agriculture only – there are exceptions in the vicinity of substations and in poultry farming when the panels are used as shading.
According to the agriculture department, Upper Austrian farmers have now submitted over 370 hectares for open-field and agro-PV systems. In the department, 243 hectares were found to be suitable from an agricultural perspective. However, the approval is the responsibility of the spatial planning department, although there are other parameters – including nature conservation – that need to be taken into account.
According to information from the Spatial Planning Department, Upper Austrian municipalities have initiated dedication procedures for a total of 170 open-space and agro-PV systems since 2021. In total, this corresponds to an area of almost 392 hectares. 43 dedications with a total area of 54.5 hectares have already been approved by the supervisory authorities. 125 rezoning procedures (328.9 hectares) are still open – partly due to contradictions with the Upper Austrian criteria. Photovoltaic strategy, partly because of ongoing audits, it was said from the office of Economic and Regional Planning Councilor Markus Achleitner (ÖVP). A dedication was refused and another procedure was discontinued by the municipality (a total of 8.3 hectares).
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