APG: Austria's electricity export phase continues in May

In May, Austria exported around 1,300 GWh of electricity on balance. This means that Austria's strong electricity export phase (with an average of 357 GWh of exports, on balance, every month from January to April) continued in May. The main reasons for this were the consistent growth rates of renewable energies in Austria and the favorable weather conditions.

  "The good production from renewable energy sources enabled us to generate a surplus of electricity in Austria, which allowed us to export electricity abroad every single day in May," emphasizes Gerhard Christiner, Chief Technical Officer of APG. "Thanks to the substantial expansion of renewables, we can cover more of our annual electricity consumption with renewable energies every year. However, this positive development also requires the continuous expansion of the entire electricity infrastructure, including storage facilities, especially regarding the future growth rates of installed renewables. The necessary legal framework – in particular the Renewables Expansion Acceleration Act (EABG) and new Electricity Industry Act (ELWG) - must finally be adopted." 

The strong expansion of renewables is particularly noticeable regarding PV systems

May (CW18-22) was characterized by extremely good renewable production (6,342 GWh). As a result, Austria was able to cover its domestic electricity demand (4,876 GWh) with renewable energy in May (on balance). 

At 4,526 GWh, hydropower accounted for around 71% of the renewable energy in May. Even though hydropower production dropped by 14% compared to May 2023, this decline is "more than offset" by the increased production from wind and PV facilities. At 681 GWh, wind energy contributed 11 percent to the renewables’ production, which is an increase of four percent. The enormous expansion of PV systems over the past year became particularly evident in May. At 900 GWh, PV contributed a share of 14% of the renewable energy that was fed into the grid in May, almost three times as much as in the previous year. These figures demonstrate the enormous momentum of the growth of renewable energies in Austria. 

 "A high-capacity electricity infrastructure, storage facilities, and digital intelligence within the electricity system are necessary to fully capitalize on the planned growth rates of renewables in the coming years. APG's EUR 9 billion investment scheme up to 2034 is therefore key for achieving the energy transition without jeopardizing the security of supply," emphasizes Gerhard Christiner.

The need for redispatch measures highlights existing deficits

A strong grid is necessary to make the volatile, renewable electricity available and to transport the electricity to where it is needed. To avoid grid overloads and ensure a secure supply, the electricity flow is managed with so-called redispatch measures, i.e. the targeted and controlled use of thermal and hydraulic power plants.

“In 2024 such interventions were already necessary on 66 days until the end of May. This causes costs which have to be borne by the electricity customers. Until the end of May, the costs generated by redispatch measures amounted to around 31.1 million euros. A strong transmission grid with sufficient capacities would considerably reduce the need for redispatch measures and the associated costs. Therefore the immediate expansion of the grid infrastructure is our top priority,” emphasizes Thomas Karall, CFO at APG. 

Energy exchange within Austria              

The trans-regional electricity grid of APG facilitates the exchange of energy within the country. Electricity surpluses in individual provinces can thus be distributed throughout Austria to compensate for deficits. 

In May, the provinces of Upper Austria (447 GWh) and Lower Austria (382 GWh) generated the highest energy surplus and made it available throughout Austria via the APG grid. At 331 GWh, Vienna, along with Vorarlberg (106 GWh), had to draw the most electricity from the grid. 

Responsible energy consumption

In May (calendar weeks 18 –22), 4,876 GWh of electricity were consumed from the public grid in Austria – this is around three percent less than in May 2023 (5,048 GWh). 

It is important to act responsibly when it comes to electricity consumption. Saving electricity reduces CO2 and overall systemic costs, which are significant contributions to increasing system security. The trend of reducing CO2 has to be pushed further. This also includes electricity from private PV units.

In 2023 alone around 2,400 MW of new capacity from PV systems were connected to the system in Austria. This is a very positive trend which, however, also generates big operational challenges: the increased production from private PV systems causes massive back-feeding of regional electricity surpluses from the distribution grids into APG’s transmission grid. At the same time, the coverage of the electricity demand by these private systems results in a loss of data transparency regarding local consumption due to the insufficient degree of digitalization. The usual consumption peak at noon no longer occurs on sunny days: on the contrary, the flow of electricity is completely reversed and the regional electricity surpluses have to be transported elsewhere via the transmission grid. This also changes the electricity price curve and even leads to negative market prices around lunchtime on weekends with low demand.

Due to the lack of data transparency regarding local consumption, the current electricity consumption data for Austria do not depict the actual situation. Austria's actual electricity consumption can only be determined once all elements of the electricity system have been digitalized transparently. This means that in May 2024 certainly more electricity was consumed than it was recorded. However, the exact figures based on local and regional data are not available yet. 

Tips for saving electricity can be found at www.apg.at/stromspartipps. With the APG Powermonitor, the Austrian population can see the most effective electricity-saving hours and thus make an active contribution to CO2 reduction and system security. The APG Powermonitor can be found at: www.apg.at/powermonitor.

APG continually keeps track of the development of the domestic electricity industry and regularly publishes diagrams at https://www.apg.at/infografiken regarding the topics: energy exchange, energy consumption in Austria, renewables production, import/export, electricity prices, etc. 

Click here for the current infographics

About Austrian Power Grid (APG)

As independent transmission system operator Austrian Power Grid (APG) is in charge of ensuring the security of the electricity supply in Austria. With our high-performance and digital electricity infrastructure and the use of state-of-the-art technologies we integrate renewable energies, we are the platform for the electricity market, and we provide access to reasonably priced electricity for Austria’s consumers and thus create the basis for Austria as supply-secure and future-oriented industrial and business location and place to live. The APG grid totals a length of about 3,400 km and is operated, maintained, and continuously adapted to the increasing challenges of the electrification of businesses, industry, and society by a team of approximately 850 specialists. 67 substations are distributed all over Austria and the majority is operated remotely from APG’s control center in Vienna’s 10th district. Thanks to our committed employees Austria had a security of supply of 99.99 percent also in 2023 and thus ranks among the top countries worldwide. Our investments of 445 million euros in 2024 (2023: 490 million euros, 2022: 370 million euros) are a motor for the Austrian economy and a crucial factor in reaching Austria’s climate and energy targets. Until 2034 APG will invest a total of approximately 9 billion euros in grid expansion and renovation projects.