According to section 2(1), this Act regulates:
the support scheme for electricity from renewables;
- the organisation and functioning of renewable energy communities;
- the support scheme for gas from renewables;
- the support scheme for hydrogen from renewables;
- guarantees of origin for renewable energies and the recognition of guarantees of origin issued in other countries'
- certificates for gas from renewables; and
- the establishment of an integrated network plan.
To this end, the Act foresees feed-in premiums for electricity from specific renewables and investment grants as types of support.
Overall, the Act aims at contributing to the goals of the Paris Agreement and the EU's goal to cover at least 32% of the EU's gross final consumption of energy through renewable sources by 2030, and further, to make Austria climate neutral by 2040 (section 4(1)). Specifically, the Act aims at:
- promoting the generation of renewable electricity and the production of renewable gas;
- increasing the quantity of renewable electricity;
- ensuring that the generation of renewable electricity and the production of renewable gas are efficient, market-based and competitive;
- increasing the penetration, market and system integration of renewables;
- providing certainty for investors in renewable electricity plants;
- providing certainty for investors in renewable gas plants;
- increasing the quantity of renewable gas produced in Austria to 5 TWh by 2030;
- enabling private individuals to form renewable energy communities with local authorities or SMEs and promoting the production and consumption of energy within these communities;
- supporting the construction and upgrading of required infrastructure;
- promoting renewable hydrogen.
Pursuant to section 4(2), the Act states the objective that domestic renewable electricity generation equals total domestic electricity consumption from 2030 onwards. And section 4(3) sets the target of annual renewable electricity generation being increased by 27 TWh by 2030 with a 2020 baseline to reach this objective. Specifically, 11 TWh shall come from PV, 10 TWh from wind, 5 TWh from hydro, and 1 TWh from biomass. The PV contribution shall rely on a programme to install panels on 1 million rooftops.
