Austria's Oesterreich Energie association has developed a map of network capacity to serve as a guide for system operators.

“A critical point in the construction of renewable generation plants is the sufficient availability of network capacities on site,” explained Franz Strempfl, a spokesman from the electricity industry association, noting that the map will help to facilitate the planning and deployment of PV systems. “In this way, we create transparency throughout Austria with regard to the current utilization of substations and thus facilitate the planning of the systems. We are currently experiencing enormous dynamism in the photovoltaic sector.”

The Austrian government introduced the ElWOG two years ago, leading to the creation of the map. These provisions prompted the country's grid operators to provide clarity about their available grid-connection capacities, among other requirements.

Oesterreich Energie will update the map on a quarterly basis, by using reports from Austrian system operators. The association said that the map offers an advance overview for grid connection requests, but does not replace them. Binding grid connection commitments must still be obtained from the grid operator for PV systems.

An industry survey by PV shows that securing a grid-connection permit is a significant challenge, as indicated by many market participants. In a survey, 66% of its members identified network access as a major challenge.

PV Austria is calling for modern e-business laws and aims to collaborate with the Ministry of Climate Protection and E-Control to eliminate obstacles to photovoltaic expansion.

Austria surpassed 1 GW of annual PV installations for the first time in 2022. PV Austria said that developers installed 1,009 MW of solar, surpassing 740 MW in 2021, 341 MW in 2020, and 247 MW in 2019. By the end of 2022, the country's cumulative PV capacity had reached 3.79 GW, accounting for 6.6% of the nation's electricity demand last year.