Oesterreichs Energie − representing the interests of the Austrian electricity industry
Artikel weiterleitenOesterreichs Energie, previously Verband der Elektrizitätsunternehmen Österreichs (VEÖ), is an independent advocacy group for the Austrian electricity industry. Since its establishment in 1953, Oesterreichs Energie has represented the jointly developed sector interests in political, administrative and public contexts.
Oesterreichs Energie currently represents over 140 member companies with around 21,000 employees. These companies generate more than 90% of Austria’s electricity and operate the Austrian transport and distribution networks. In 2009, the member companies’ electricity production reached 68,973 GWh, around 62% of which was generated from sustainable hydropower. Furthermore, approximately 250,000 km of lines are maintained and extended to meet the requirements of the European electricity market.
In representing its members’ interests with regard to energy policies, Oesterreichs Energie works in close cooperation with national and international political decision makers. The legal, regulatory, technical and economic framework conditions of the deregulated electricity market are jointly developed in working groups with the responsible ministries and regulatory authorities.
Oesterreichs Energie conducts the regular collective agreement negotiations with the employee representatives and concludes the collective agreements for the electricity companies’ employees and workers with the employers.
Oesterreichs Energie − because energy is part of our nature
Some 130 years after electricity was first used in Austria, the domestic electricity industry has become an indispensable and integral part of the country’s infrastructure. It is simply impossible to imagine any area of business or public and private life without it. In these 130 years, a country-wide supply infrastructure has been developed that securely and cost‑effectively supplies the valuable commodity of electricity 99.99% of the year.
Sustainable energy for secure supplies
Hydropower, thermal plants and (increasingly) new renewable energy sources such as wind farms, solar plants and biomass plants are connected by a powerful transmission and distribution network to supply not only domestic customers but also customers throughout the deregulated European electricity market. Currently, this market also supplies the electricity volumes that help meet the increasing domestic demand and can no longer be generated in Austria. And Austria’s demand for electricity will continue to grow even if energy-saving measures can reduce the overall energy consumption. This is because in many areas, electricity is part of the solution for improving energy efficiency and thus reducing overall consumption.
Europe’s green battery
Austria’s great importance within the European energy system and the continued development of sustainable electricity production in Central Europe can be attributed to its Alpine storage plants. While Austria’s installed power plant capacity only makes up 2.5% of the overall European capacity, the country avails of over 11% of European hydropower and over 17% of European storage capacities, making it not only a role model for sustainable electricity production but also Europe’s ‘green battery’ in the Alps. In fact, at 69.7%, Austria has the highest proportion of electricity generated from renewable energy sources in the EU. By supplying peak and balancing energy from their storage power plants in the Alps, Oesterreichs Energie members also significantly support the stability of electricity supplies throughout Europe.
The current storage capacity is seven gigawatts and will be further expanded in the future. The electricity industry plans to make annual investments of 1.5 billion euros in generation and networks until 2020.
National importance
The domestic electricity industry is an important driver of national growth in Austria and an example-setter for the responsible use of economic and natural resources.
With an annual production of around 13 billion euros, the electricity industry accounts for 2.8% of the country’s total economic production and 1.5% of its domestic value-added. The sector invested around 1.3 billion euros in each of 2007 and 2008. Furthermore, every euro invested in the electricity industry generates two euros in other areas of the Austrian economy. In addition, each job in Austria’s electricity industry secures around 1.5 permanent jobs in other sectors.
Targets for future electricity supplies
Demanding requirements exist in relation to future energy and electricity supplies.
- The first target must therefore be to ‘forge’ a flexible and robust electricity network that integrates all options and fields of activity – including those that we can already anticipate will be needed for future developments.
- The second priority is to achieve the greatest possible level of sustainability with the gradual involvement of all available potentials for electricity generation.
- The third target is to reduce the dependency on imports and preserve Austria’s self‑determination in energy matters.