Only sporadically higher

Feed-in tariff for solar power at around 5 cents

(Bild: Alphaspirit, stock.adobe.com)

Feed-in tariffs for electricity from photovoltaic systems (PV) have settled at around five cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) this year. Although slightly higher purchase tariffs are possible in some cases, feed-in tariffs of over 50 cents, as was the case during the energy crisis, are a thing of the past. The state settlement agency OeMAG recently paid 4.65 cents per kWh and between 5.34 and 8.90 cents in July, August and September. Higher payments are possible for energy communities.

The central benchmark for PV electricity is the "market price", which has been calculated monthly in arrears by OeMAG since the beginning of the year. It has fallen every month from 8.14 cents per kWh in January to just 4.65 cents from April. In principle, any photovoltaic system up to a maximum output of 500 kWp can feed its electricity into the grid via OeMAG and thus at this price. Electricity suppliers can pay more or less, but are also guided by the market. At the end of 2023, over 100,000 PV system operators had market price contracts with OeMAG.

Energie AG significantly reduced its tariff
Many PV system owners have already adjusted to significantly lower feed-in tariffs. The Upper Austrian company Energie AG attracted a lot of attention in May when it terminated the current contracts of 20,000 customers and will only pay a fraction of the electricity fed into the grid in future. While customers had previously received a guaranteed 15.73 cents, in future they will only receive a variable price, which amounted to 3.12 cents in April. Energie AG guarantees at least 2 cents.

The PV industry recommends maximizing self-consumption and looking around for an energy community. In energy communities, the prices are a matter of agreement between the members. Higher tariffs of currently ten to 13 cents per kilowatt hour are possible because there is a discount on grid costs for electricity from energy communities. In the case of communal systems on the roofs of multi-party buildings, the grid costs are waived in full.