Green Electricity Act - 2008 and 2009 amendments

The Green or Eco-Electricty Act was amended in 2008, with some of the amendments taking effect or being further revised in 2009.

The amendment increased the target for the share of renewable energy in electricity production, to 15% by 2015 (excluding large hydro). The target is to be met through additional installations between 2008 and 2015 of 700 MW of wind power, 700 MW of hydro power (of which 350 MW will be made up of installations with less than 20MW capacity), and 100 MW of biomass (depending on the supply situation).

The feed-in tariff period was extended to 15 years for biomass and biogas, and 13 years for other technologies. Small-scale hydro power (less than 2 MW) now benefits from a different support system of investment subsidies rather than a feed-in tariff.

Solar PV installations up to 5kW will be directly subsidised as part of a Climate and Energy fund programme, and a requirement for co-ficing of solar PV installations by provinces removed.

The total annual funds available for purchasing green electricity through feed-in tariffs by the settlement cenre OeMAG was also increased, from EUR 17 million to EUR 21 million a year, resulting in a total of EUR 500 million made available up till 2015. The funding cap was also made flexible, with the possiblity of raising more funds if necessary.

In 2009, certain amendments took effect or were modified. For example, the system of a lump sum payment received by electricity customers to OeMAG was extended to 2012, and the possibility for reimbursement of payments for green-electricity by companies was limited.

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