Legal sources on renewable energy

• Ökostromgesetz (Green Electricity Act)
• Promotion Guidelines 2006

• Price regulation. Electricity from renewable sources is mainly promoted through a feed-in tariff, which is set out in the Green Electricity Act and the regulations related thereto. Operators of renewable energy systems are entitled against the government purchaser, the so-called Ökostromabwicklungsstelle (hereinafter called "Clearing and Settlement Agency"), to the conclusion of a contract on the purchase of the electricity they produce ("obligation to enter into a contract").
• Subsidies. The construction of small and medium-sized hydro-electric power stations is subsidised by investment grants. The legal basis of these grants is the Green Electricity Act together with the applicable subsidy directive.

All renewable electricity generation technologies are eligible for the Austrian feed-in tariff. In contrast to the tariff, subsidies are available for small and medium-sized hydro-electric power stations and small PV systems only.

All incentives for the use of renewable energy are applicable within the territory of Austria only.

The costs of supporting electricity from renewable sources are borne by those consumers that are obliged to pay the so-called "Zählpunktpauschale“ (hereinafter called "support fee") to their grid operator. The feed-in tariff is also funded from profit from the sale of electricity from renewable sources by the Clearing and Settlement Agency to the electricity traders. Electricity traders may pass on to the final consumers the difference between the price they pay and the fixed market price they are obliged to charge.