At the energy-saving trade fair in Wels, Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) announced financing for retrofitting PV systems with electricity storage in early March. It actually started on April 10 – and ended on May 3 because the budget ran out.
Due to the declining feed-in tariffs for solar energy, retrofitting photovoltaic systems with storage is very popular – a very expensive affair for which financing is no longer available. Only those who were quick in April had the opportunity to receive financial support from the federal government.
35 million euros was quickly gone
As reported, Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler announced the start of financing on April 10 – retroactively from January 1 – at the Wels energy savings fair. Gewessler’s ministry made 35 million euros available for this. And in no time they were gone.
“The budget was far too low and was already exhausted on May 3,” complains State Energy Council Markus Achleitner (ÖVP). Since then, support in the form of a VAT exemption has only been available for solar energy storage systems that are installed directly with a new PV system. Large storage systems with more than 50 kWh are also supported.
‘Restart’ financing
“The widespread use of small storage systems plays a particularly important role,” says Achleitner. He appealed to the minister to restart financing for the renovation and this time to provide sufficient federal resources.
He also wants to lobby for this at the conference of state energy representatives next Thursday and Friday and establish a “merger” with his colleagues in this regard.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
