The Lower Austrian energy supplier EVN AG is replacing the fixed feed-in tariff for its customers’ solar power systems with a “market-based tariff”. The old model, which provided for a fixed feed-in tariff linked to the purchase tariff, expires at the end of April. The new tariff called “SonnenStromMonat” is adjusted monthly on the basis of the Austrian Electricity Price Index (ÖSPI). According to the company, more than 30,000 of the approximately 70,000 of the 120,000 solar plant operators who sell their electricity to EVN have already switched to the new model.
“For years, the so-called 1:1 tariff was regarded as a fair and good tariff when it came to selling the solar power produced on your roof at the best possible price. Customers received the same energy price for the solar power they sold as they paid for the electricity they purchased,” says EVN. When the sun is shining at midday and many photovoltaic systems are feeding in, the electricity price on the market is significantly lower than on windless evenings, for example. “The values for the solar power fed into the grid and the electricity purchased at other times are increasingly diverging. We are therefore replacing the old model with market-based remuneration,” says EVN spokesperson Stefan Zach. The recommendation to customers is to optimize their own consumption. “Every kilowatt hour that is produced and consumed in-house does not have to be purchased. The elimination of grid fees, taxes and levies makes a lot of sense,” says Zach.
© PHOTON
