“The climate-friendly heat supply is an important part of achieving our climate protection goals. With the program ‘Solarthermie – large solar systems’ we are promoting a climate-friendly technology that supports exactly that. Solar thermal systems are an ideal alternative for cities, municipalities and companies on the way out of the old fossil oil and gas heating systems ”, says Federal Minister Leonore Gewessler.
The Climate and Energy Fund has made a funding budget of 45 million euros available for this, endowed with funds from the Climate Protection Ministry. “Large solar systems in X-Large format with several 10,000 m2 are still a rarity in Austria. BIG solar systems in particular have great potential. We expect the program to give the domestic solar thermal industry a boost and open up new market segments on a whole new scale. So on the one hand we set important impulses for Austria as a business location and on the other hand we promote innovations for the world market ”, says Climate and Energy Fund Managing Director Ingmar Höbarth.
Robert Kanduth, chairman of the Austria Solar Association, is delighted: “The 45 million euro program heralds a new era for solar energy, and this offensive for large-scale solar systems catapults Austria to the top of the world’s solar countries. With the current call for tenders from the Climate and Energy Fund, more funds are available for two years than for the last ten years together, ”said Kanduth.
With the program “Solar thermal – large solar systems”, the Climate and Energy Fund has been promoting the operational installation of innovative solar thermal systems with a collector area of 100 m2 or more since 2010. The program is intended to enable the planning and implementation of large, highly efficient solar thermal systems. The focus is also on the profitability of the overall system by combining the solar thermal systems with measures to increase efficiency or other technologies.
In the new offensive, solar projects with more than 5,000 square meters of collector surface are now given special support. “With the funding program, real megawatt systems are now possible in district heating, which accelerate the phase-out from fossil fuels,” emphasizes Kanduth. Over a million households are currently heated with district heating, almost half of which is generated with fossil natural gas. With the funding volume of 45 million euros, investments of around 150 million euros will be initiated. 75 percent of the plants are built with domestic added value, which means that the solar offensive is an economic engine that affects manufacturers and craftsmen in the region.
The target group of the program includes all natural and legal persons exercising commercial activities as well as local authorities in Austria.
The funding campaign covers the following six thematic areas:
- Solar process heat
- Solar feed into grid-connected heat supplies (micro, local and district heating networks)
- High solar coverage (over 20% of the total heat requirement) in commercial and service companies
- Solar thermal in combination with a heat pump
- New technologies and innovative approaches
- Large-scale solar systems from 5,000 m2
Particularly innovative projects as well as projects over 5,000 m2 gross collector area are included in the accompanying research program and supervised with intensive monitoring. The findings from this are used to further develop the technology and are continuously incorporated into the implementation of new large-scale solar systems.
In order to offer companies and municipalities the necessary planning security for large-scale solar systems, the funding conditions apply until February 2023.
The tender “Solar thermal – large solar systems” is open until February 24th, 2023 with several deadlines for submission. The first submission deadline is October 15, 2021. You can find more information here.
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