Regulator's fee rules stall Austria's battery storage expansion despite high demand

Austria faces a looming surge in electricity consumption, projected to more than double over the next 15 years, driving a need for extensive battery storage to balance renewable generation. The regulator E-Control has rejected calls to exempt batteries from network fees, a move condemned by business groups, the ÖVP and the Neos as a barrier to investment. Current battery capacity sits at about one gigawatt, yet calculations by TU Graz indicate the country will require five times that amount by 2030 and nine times by 2040.

Although grid operators have received requests for 25 to 30 gigawatts of storage, the stringent fee exemption criteria are expected to limit actual construction. Experts highlight missing real-time grid data, limited revenue streams for large-scale batteries, and the need for competitive tendering similar to the Netherlands as further obstacles. Policy tweaks, including linking subsidies for new photovoltaic systems to storage installation and adjusting feed-in tariffs to reflect hourly market prices, are proposed to encourage both utility-scale and residential storage adoption.