Austrian energy storage equipment industry

A study 1 carried out by the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien, AEE INTEC, BEST and ENFOS presents the market development of energy storage technologies in Austria for the first time.

In 2020, Austria had a hystorically grown inventory of hydraulic storage power plants with a gross maximum capacity of 8.8 GW and gross electricity generation of 14.7 TWh. This storage capacity has already played a central role in the past in optimising power plant deployment and grid regulation.

Of these, approx. 94% were built with public funding and 6% without. The total inventory of photovoltaic battery storage systems in Austria therefore rose to 11,908 storage systems with a cumulative usable storage capacity of approx. 121 MWh.

A total of 840 tank water storage systems in primary and secondary networks with a total storage volume of 191,150 m³ were surveyed in Austria. The five largest individual tank water storage systems have volumes of 50,000 m³ (Theiss), 34,500 m³ (Linz), 30,000 m³ (Salzburg), 20,000 m³ (Timelkam) and twice 5,500 m³ (Vienna).

Activated components and buildings are usually heated and/or cooled with heat pump systems. As of 2015, heat pumps in Austria have been equipped with a corresponding smart grid interface. In total, this amounted to approx. 121,200 buildings at the end of 2020 with a maximum load shift potential of approx. 0.43 GWhel per hour of shifting time.

Through strategic partnerships with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang University, and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of Chengdu, the center advances the development and application of cutting-edge energy storage technologies. The company operates advanced energy storage factories with a total capacity of 10GWh in China.