Electricity in Austria in 2022
The 2022 data shows that Austria's electricity consumption is predominantly low-carbon based, accounting for about 67% of total usage. Hydroelectric power is the primary source of this clean energy, contributing to almost half of the total. Non-renewable sources, particularly fossil fuels, play a smaller part, with gas leading at close to 16% and coal contributing extremely little at below 1%. The combined use of wind, biofuels, and solar power makes up about 18%, with wind being the most significant of these three. Notably, Austria depends on net imports for more than 12% of its electricity consumption with its peak dependency reaching a staggering 54%.
Suggestions
To further boost its low-carbon electricity generation, Austria could learn from the strategies employed by other nations. Countries such as France, Ukraine and Slovakia, employ nuclear power heavily, which makes up over half of their total electricity production. Austria could also tap into the potential of wind energy, much like Denmark that uses wind sources for over half of its electricity consumption. Solar energy could also be an important addition to Austria's energy mix, similar to the recent rise of solar usage in countries like Chile and the Netherlands.
History
Looking back at the history of low-carbon electricity in Austria, it is clear that the focus has been predominantly on hydroelectric power with its rise and fall over the years. For instance, in 1974, hydroelectric generation increased by around 3.4 TWh, however, two years later it experienced a decline, only to rise again in 1977. The trend of fluctuation continued through the 80s and the 90s, notably with an increase of 4.9 TWh in 1987, followed by a decrease in 1990, and then another increase in 1992. The new millennium brought further ups and downs, such as a significant decrease in 2003 followed by a recovery in 2004, and a sharp 10 TWh increase in 2012. Recent years have mostly seen declines in hydroelectric generation, exposing the urgent need for Austria to diversify its low-carbon electricity generation portfolio with a heavier emphasis on sources like nuclear, wind and solar energy.