PVTIME – PV Austria has released a key study providing a systematic assessment of the storage capacity required by its power system to maintain progress in the energy transition. The research makes clear that Austria must accelerate the deployment of energy storage significantly if it is to meet its renewable energy targets for 2030 and 2040.
Currently, the country’s total installed storage capacity is around 1.1GW. System modelling conducted in collaboration with Graz University of Technology, D-Fine and APG, the Austrian grid operator, forecasts that this figure will need to exceed 5GW by 2030. An additional 3.6GW of storage will be necessary by 2040 to ensure the power system can effectively regulate and balance supply and demand.
This expansion is driven by the government’s push to scale up renewable energy, particularly solar power. PV Austria president Herbert Paierl has noted that Austria aims to reach 21GW of solar capacity by 2030, but this will require sufficient storage and flexibility measures.
The study also reveals that the overall system flexibility requirement will double by 2040, and that this adjustability will largely depend on storage systems, particularly small-scale units intended for residential and small-to-medium commercial use. The study recommends that small-scale storage should account for roughly two-thirds of future expansion, with the remaining third coming from large-scale centralised facilities.
In order to meet the 2030 target, Austria will need to install around 650MW of storage capacity each year over the next few years. While annual growth could slow to around 350MW by 2040, current progress remains insufficient; only 450MW was added in 2024, leaving a significant shortfall.
The need for storage is not confined to regions with abundant renewable energy, but is spread across all states due to rising electricity consumption. Despite variations in population density and industrial structure between states, the recommended split of one-third large-scale and two-thirds small-scale storage can be applied nationwide.
The study highlights that without accelerating storage deployment, Austria’s energy transition will stall.
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