Net imports of electricity again increased significantly last year. In 2021 there was already an increase of three and a half times compared to 2020, but net imports increased again by 15 percent in 2022, IG Windkraft reported on Sunday based on data from energy regulator E-Control.
In the previous year, an “incredible 3.2 billion euros flowed from Austria to foreign coal, nuclear and gas plants”. In 2022, a net amount of 8.7 billion kWh of electricity was imported.
Wind energy expansion needed
Compared to 2019, the net import of electricity in 2022 was even 178 percent higher. The net import of electricity in 2022, at 11.7 percent of electricity consumption, was well above the average since 2000 (7.2 percent).
“How are we going to get the climate crisis and the energy crisis under control if we haven’t even been able to ensure that Austria can provide itself with electricity for years,” IG Windkraft director Stefan Moidl asked in a broadcast. He called on politicians at the federal and state level to create framework conditions that finally ensure the expansion of renewable energy sources to the necessary extent.
“In 2030, we want to cover our electricity consumption with 100 percent renewable household electricity,” recalls Moidl. “Today we are not even able to generate our electricity from domestic power plants and still have to import dirty and expensive electricity from nuclear power, coal and natural gas in large quantities.” He also called for wind energy expansion to fill a “winter gap”. in the switched off power generation. In the winter months, hydropower generation is lower and more electricity has to be imported than in the summer.
Wind turbines are hotly debated
“Currently we have to pay a heavy price for the mistakes that politicians have made in the past when generating electricity,” Moidl says of the billions in costs for the imported electricity. The renewable energy sources are “life insurance” for the domestic industry and “guarantor” for an affordable energy supply in general.
Wind turbines are often hotly debated in Austria. In the westernmost states there are none. There are reservations, especially in tourist regions. The wind turbines were also a controversial subject in the Carinthian election campaign – where state elections will take place this Sunday.
Source: Krone
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