Debate in the Economic Committee with E-Control board members Urbantschitsch and Haber
Vienna (PK) – Energy Control Austria (E-Control for short) currently estimates the gas supply situation to be more relaxed, although not yet calm. At the beginning of June, storage facilities in Austria were full to an all-time high of over 79%. This was stated today in the Economic Committee by E-Control CEO Alfons Haber. However, he also assumes that refilling the storage facilities could be more limited in the coming months. Haber also highlighted the positive fact that consumption in 2023 had fallen by 5.5% for electricity and 12.5% for gas. 140,000 applications for new photovoltaic systems were processed in 2023. There are now 400,000 PV systems in the grid that can provide around 10% of annual production. Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler also highlighted the “huge interest” in PV systems. E-Control has contributed to this with an action plan for grid connection.
According to Wolfgang Urbantschitsch on behalf of the E-Control board, prices on the energy market began to calm down at the beginning of 2023, although “catch-all effects” in wholesale prices were still noticeable. However, measures such as the electricity cost brake in particular or those for the commercial sector ensured that the price increases did not reach customers in full.
E-Control’s comprehensive activity report for 2023 (III-1162 dB), which gave MPs the impetus for today’s debate with Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler and E-Control’s board members Wolfgang Urbantschitsch and Alfons Haber in the Economic Committee, was unanimously acknowledged there. In 2023, despite the ongoing difficult situation, the energy supply to the Austrian population was consistently guaranteed, the report says in retrospect. The gas storage facilities were as full as rarely before.
Photovoltaic boom and E-Control’s action plan
Energy Minister Gewessler points out in the report that electricity generation from renewable energy was increased to 87% in 2023. This is due to the photovoltaic boom and an increase in wind power while fossil fuel generation is being reduced. This puts Austria in second place in the EU comparison. The increase in photovoltaics from 0.98 (2022) to 2.35 terawatt hours (TWh) was supported by a “record budget” of €600 million from the federal government. However, the expansion of the grids, grid access rules, power purchase agreements and the increasing number of energy communities would place a great deal of demand on grid operators and energy suppliers. In 2023, E-Control developed the Grid Connection Action Plan so that photovoltaic systems can be connected to the grid more quickly and much more easily and can thus make the desired contribution to the expansion of renewables in Austria. About half of the falling electricity consumption in 2023 will be due to self-consumption from photovoltaic systems, explained Haber in response to questions from Maximilian Linder (FPÖ).
Gas diversification and non-Russian imports
Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, both Austria and the EU as a whole have been pursuing the goal of gas diversification, the report continues. In order to expand gas supply sources beyond imports purely through gas pipelines, new routes via the international LNG market are required. On the infrastructure side, E-Control is also approving projects that enable the increase in imports of gas from non-Russian sources, such as the so-called WAG partial loop. This project was submitted by the network operator and approved as an implementation project by the regulatory authority in May 2023. According to the report, the WAG partial loop project should therefore be implemented by mid-2027.
In addition to the “overall problem” that Alois Schroll (SPÖ) addressed with regard to what he said was still a high proportion of Russian natural gas, a court ruling was also discussed that could indirectly affect gas deliveries from Russia, said Christoph Matznetter (SPÖ) and Karin Doppelbauer (NEOS). Only OMV could provide details on this, said Urbantschitsch. However, based on the information, he could not rule out the possibility that gas deliveries could be stopped as a result of the ruling or any withdrawal of funds. However, nothing concrete is known at the moment, said Minister Gewessler.
As far as the German gas storage levy is concerned, which Tanja Graf (ÖVP) addressed, she will continue to work to ensure that it is abolished as quickly as possible, said Gewessler. An end to the levy from 2025 has been announced, but the parliamentary process with the corresponding amendment to the law is only just beginning.
Regarding the WAG partial loop project, Haber added, among other things, that according to his latest information, the expansion is on schedule. However, to his knowledge, the request of residents to lay power lines there in parallel has not yet been conclusively assessed.
In response to questions from Lukas Hammer (Greens) regarding the legal obligations of energy suppliers in accounting, Urbantschitsch explained that in the case of misconduct, E-Control itself can only request corrections and not impose penalties, but that administrative criminal charges can also be filed if necessary.
Hydrogen as a gas alternative
According to the report, hydrogen is becoming more and more of a reality in the energy world’s future plans as an alternative to gas, making it relevant as a new regulatory area for E-Control. According to the Austrian hydrogen strategy, 70 TWh of climate-neutral hydrogen is to be used by 2040. In order to cover the gap between domestic production and demand, around 70% of this is to be imported in the long term. In addition to issues such as the development of infrastructure and production as well as the design of the regulatory framework, E-Control believes that a national network operator should be used to set up and operate a hydrogen network, according to the report. In response to questions from Petra Oberrauner (SPÖ), Gewessler said that in her view E-Control would also be very well suited to regulating this area. Overall, work is underway on an amendment to this topic.
More inquiries than ever before at the advice centre
The E-Control Board of Directors also states in the report that the E-Control advisory service had to deal with more inquiries than ever before last year. With around 42,700 inquiries and complaints, an increase of 29% compared to 2022 was recorded. Applications to the arbitration board grew by 35%. Visits to the tariff calculator website rose from 1 million to 2 million in 2023, which was already an extremely strong year. (Conclusion of the Economic Committee) mbu
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