"Communication error"

PV system funding secured, reduction from 2025

PV systems that are completed this year will still receive the old subsidy.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Stock Adobe,)

Following the halt in the acceptance of funding applications for photovoltaic systems, Sebastian Schuschnig, the provincial councillor responsible, is reassuring and admits to errors in communication. Applications for the "old" subsidy can still be submitted digitally at the beginning of 2025. Then the amounts will drop significantly.

"I sincerely apologize, the communication surrounding the stop was clumsy", explains Sebastian Schuschnig, Provincial Councillor for Energy Affairs, in a background discussion on PV funding. "But there was also completely false, deliberately misleading information circulating." For example, all photovoltaic systems that are completed this year can apply for the subsidy.

"This can be done digitally between January 7 and February 28. This will also make it possible to switch away from analog applications," says Schuschnig. And the old rates still apply to these applications. "We have had Joanneum Research calculate new values that will enable more efficient funding," emphasizes the Provincial Councillor.

Change in funding

• Old: Up to now 480 euros per kilowatt peak (kWp) output
• Cap at 10 kWp and 50 percent of the gross costs
• Maximum subsidy: 4800 euros
• New: Between 120 and 380 euros per kWp, graduated according to output
• Cap remains the same
• Maximum subsidy: 2680 euros

The new subsidy is provided in four stages: for the "first" 4 kWp you get 380 euros, for the next two kWp 280 euros, then 180 euros again and finally 120 euros for the last two kWp up to the maximum subsidy capacity of 10 kWp. This is a drop of a good 20 percent for small systems and a drop of over 44 percent for the maximum size (2680 instead of 4800 euros).

Particularly high subsidies in Carinthia
"For a single-family home with a 4.5 kWp system and a 10 kWh storage system, the subsidy will amount to EUR 4410 instead of EUR 5660 in future," calculates Schuschnig - a drop of around 22 percent. A look at the other federal states shows that a reduction was entirely justified, also in view of Carinthia's budget situation.

"It was a good twice as high, which also has an impact on the prices for facilities, which are significantly more expensive in Carinthia," says Schuschnig. "But according to Joanneum, the lower subsidies should also lead to cheaper plants. There are currently companies from other federal states that are flocking here specifically because of the higher prices."

Digital system brings shorter procedures
Schuschnig expects a total of 52 million euros in PV subsidies to be paid out this year - the original estimate was 25 million. "Many old applications have been processed, and the same amount is budgeted for 2025. But with the new digital system, applications will no longer take six to twelve months in future," said the Provincial Councillor. "However, we are switching to a call system - if there are no more funds, applications will no longer be possible."

I understand the criticism, it is humanly understandable and correct in terms of content. I sincerely apologize.

Landesrat Sebastian Schuschnig

Bild: Felix Justich

The old funding was still being advertised at the autumn fair - a mistake according to Schuschnig, who defends the new approach as the right step: "The funding guideline was not actually implemented for years. 'We'll do it somehow' is not a serious approach. By 2025, we should finally be able to clear all backlogs. The new system is a reliable form of funding processing."

At least one funding call and one request
The first call will start at the same time as the deadline for retrospective applications on January 7 and should run until spring. Whether and when there will be a second funding call depends on the budget situation, according to Schuschnig. And he has one more request: "If you have an application from 2023 that has not been processed, please contact my office directly, as this will no longer work with the new system!"