The Austrian energy agency OeMAG said a few days ago that it has approved around 90,700 applications for tax rebates from residential users in the first round of tax rebates for rooftop photovoltaic systems and energy storage systems this year. This figure also includes applications resubmitted last year for rebate applications for these PV systems, which typically have a capacity of no more than 20kW.
The agency also approved another 9,300 applications related to photovoltaic systems ranging in capacity from 20kW to 1MW. In addition, 33,000 rebate applications for battery storage systems were accepted.
The plan provided a first budget of 323 million euros ($353.9 million), out of a total of 600 million euros this year.
Austrian Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler said at a press conference released a few days ago, "So many people are contributing to the photovoltaic industry, which is really good news. More than 100,000 tax rebate applications set a new record, but it is also It presents challenges. Now is the time to push for more development in a sensible way, other countries have had good experience with removing VAT and we should have a serious discussion about this.”
As of the end of December last year, the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaic systems in Austria reached 4.2GW. Last year, Austria installed about 1.4GW of photovoltaic systems, most of which were financed by tax rebate schemes.