It is recommended to increase your own consumption and visit the energy community.
Feed-in tariffs for electricity from photovoltaic (PV) systems have been reduced to around 5 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) this year. In some cases, slightly higher purchase charges are possible, but charges of more than 50 cents during an energy crisis are a thing of the past. State processing company OeMAG recently paid 4.65 cents per kWh and between 5.34 and 8.90 cents in July, August and September. Higher pay is possible for energy communities.
The central benchmark for PV electricity is the “market price”, calculated monthly in arrears by OeMAG from the beginning of the year. Every month, January saw a decrease of 8.14 cents per kilowatt from 4.65 cents per kilowatt in April. In principle, any photovoltaic system with a maximum output of 500 kWp can feed its electricity via OeMAG, and therefore at this price. Electricity suppliers may pay more or less, but they are guided by the market. By the end of 2023, 100,000 PV system operators will have market price contracts with OeMAG.
Many PV system owners have already adjusted to significantly lower feed-in charges. Upper Austria Energy AG drew a lot of attention in May as it terminated the current contracts of 20,000 customers and will pay only a fraction of the electricity billed in the future. While customers previously received the guaranteed 15.73 cents, in the future they will only receive a variable price, up from 3.12 cents in April. Energy AG guarantees a minimum of 2 cents.
The PV industry recommends increasing your own consumption and looking for an energy community. In energy communities, price is a matter of agreement between members. They can currently pay 10 to 13 cents per kilowatt hour more because of rebates on network costs for electricity from energy communities. In the case of communal systems on the roofs of apartment buildings, network costs are completely eliminated.
