AMSTETTEN. The municipal utilities have completed work on a new large-scale photovoltaic system on the roof of the parking deck at the State Hospital in Amstetten.
The system has an output of 147.70 kWp. Compared to 2019, around 340,000 kWh were produced in the city of Amstetten in 2020 by the photovoltaic systems of the municipal utility. “This corresponds to an increase of 82 percent in just one year. With the commissioning of the PV system on the parking deck at the State Hospital Amstetten, the electricity balance in 2021 will also be extremely positive, ”says Stadtwerke Director Jürgen Hürner with conviction. In coordination with the municipality, he would like to make “as many municipal roofs as possible” usable for electricity generation from solar energy.
Solar energy on the rise
Christian Nagelhofer, who is responsible for renewable energies at the municipal utility, knows that photovoltaic technology has finally arrived in Amstetten: “Today it is no longer unusual that companies or private individuals have installed a PV system on the roof. We at the municipal utilities are noticing an increased demand from private households and are increasingly building “small systems” for the people’s homes. In addition, there is much greater demand for battery storage units than they were a few years ago. The customer would like to produce electricity himself using solar energy and store the surplus for his own use instead of feeding it into the power grid. With storage units you have this possibility and even at night you have almost solar power. “
PV systems on the roofs of community buildings
For Finance Councilor Heinz Ettlinger (ÖVP), the gradual expansion of PV systems on the roofs of those buildings owned by the municipality is a good investment: “The conversion of the energy system is strongly promoted and gives us investment and planning security in the implementation of these projects. The required line and storage infrastructure is constantly being expanded. This also gives our regional companies complete security when calculating the profitability of such future-oriented environmental projects. The interest in pollutant-free energy production is excellent both among businesspeople and private individuals. “
Willingness to invest in environmentally friendly technology
And it is precisely this willingness to invest in environmentally friendly technology that Vice-Mayor Dominic Hörlezeder of the Greens is particularly pleased: “Politicians and administration are constantly working to create the necessary framework conditions and incentives for the switch from fossil to renewable energy sources. Most of the entire energy system in Austria could be decarbonised by 2050. To this end, it is important to reduce the bureaucracy as much as possible and to enable investments in generation and storage facilities. Because the key is not likely to lie in higher energy production, but in reducing the energy requirement sufficiently through efficiency measures while maintaining efficiency. The Austrian climate and energy strategy called “mission2030” envisages that economic growth and environmental protection should go hand in hand. Clean growth is therefore not an option, but a necessity. “
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