Austria records 20% decline in PV capacity expansion in first quarter
According to initial industry estimates, Austria's photovoltaic capacity expansion in the first quarter of 2025 fell by approximately 20% compared to the same period last year, photovoltaic association PV Austria announced on Wednesday.
According to a report published by E-Control, 497 MW of photovoltaic capacity were added in the first three months of the previous year. However, a downward trend in demand was already evident towards the end of the year. Overall, PV capacity expansion in 2024, at 2.2 GW of newly installed capacity, fell short of the almost 2.5 GW in 2023.
The reasons for this development are not difficult to identify, according to PV Austria. “While the government program invokes the goal of ‘affordable energy' more than 20 times, the same government has been dealing the domestic renewable energy industry one blow after another since taking office,” it stated. The new government took office in March 2025 and immediately decided to end the VAT exemption for small photovoltaic systems, which was originally supposed to remain in effect until the end of the year. The government's argument that it wanted to use the funds to balance the budget was based on “dubious estimates of the additional tax revenue that could be achieved,” the association said. At the same time, the government also extended and tightened the so-called Energy Crisis Contribution for Electricity (EKB-S). According to PV Austria, this particularly affects domestic, medium-sized electricity producers. In addition, there are cuts to all environmental subsidies.
“Instead of using the growing renewable energy sector to generate additional funds for budget consolidation, successful companies are being penalized,” said Herbert Paierl, CEO of PV Austria. “Those who choke off PV and storage companies today will import unemployment tomorrow and overpriced electricity from abroad the day after.”
The association also called on the government to finally pass the new Electricity Industry Act (ElWG) and the Renewable Energy Expansion Acceleration Act (EABG). Both projects are essential to legally advance the restructuring of the energy system and to provide affordable energy. This does not require additional funding from the state budget; it is simply a matter of creating legal guardrails. “If the industry is already confronted with drastic budget cuts and planning security is being taken away, at least the announced laws must be passed before the summer,” Paierl said.
Confidence in stable framework conditions is currently eroding rapidly. Projects are already being halted and financing is becoming more expensive. Against this backdrop, PV Austria warned that the goal of affordable energy cannot be achieved in this way and that this will also have serious consequences for the Austrian industry. Thousands of jobs will be lost, and it represents a “setback as a location for innovation for green technologies.” The government is missing the opportunity to balance its budget through real growth and not just through new taxes and levies, PV Austria stated.