Austria

How the Austrian market works

The regulator is E-Control (Energie-Control Austria), which also runs the electricity price monitor. Federal law sets the main framework, including the Renewable Energy Expansion Act (EAG) and the new Electricity Act (ElWG), but building and fire rules are set by each of the nine federal states, and many states and municipalities run their own grants.

Your electricity reaches you through a regional grid operator, such as Wiener Netze in Vienna, which owns the network and decides how a solar system or battery is connected. A separate supplier sells you the electricity and sets the tariff. OeMAG is the federal settlement agency for green electricity, and its EAG funding unit (the EAG-Förderabwicklungsstelle) handles the federal investment grants for solar and storage.

Electricity prices and network fees

E-Control's price monitor does not publish one national average per kWh. It gives yearly costs for an Austrian reference household using 3,500 kWh, including network charges, taxes and levies. On 1 March 2026 the local suppliers it lists ranged from €811.29 a year with illwerke vkw to €1,218.11 with Energie Klagenfurt, with Tiwag at €890.91 and Wien Energie at €1,091.18. Divided by 3,500 kWh, that is roughly 23 ct to 35 ct per kWh (our arithmetic, not an E-Control figure). Prices differ strongly by region and tariff, so check the monitor for your own address (E-Control price monitor, March 2026).

Network charges for households rose by 1.3% on average in 2026, which E-Control puts at about €5 a year for a 3,500 kWh household. The change differs by grid area: Burgenland and Tirol saw the largest increases, while several areas, including Vienna and Salzburg, saw decreases (E-Control on 2026 network charges).

A battery does not change your network charges per kWh, but it can reduce how much you buy at the full price. How much depends on your solar surplus and your use in the evening. We explain the arithmetic in how a home battery saves money, and how to size one in what size home battery you need.

Dynamic tariffs and smart meters

A battery earns most when you can buy electricity in cheap hours and use it later, which usually means a dynamic (spot-linked) tariff. A comparison site summarising the new ElWG says larger suppliers must include at least one dynamic tariff in their range, that dynamic tariffs need a smart meter with 15-minute readings, and that customers are not forced onto them. We could not read the statute itself or confirm the date when the supplier obligation applies, so check the current position with your supplier or E-Control.

Our guides explain the opportunity and the risk: dynamic energy contracts and how to actually save, earning money with a home battery on a dynamic tariff and negative electricity prices explained. The comparison page we used is checkeverything.at on dynamic tariffs.

Getting paid for exports and the new ElWG rules

Surplus solar power can be sold to a supplier or through OeMAG, the green-electricity settlement agency, which publishes a market price on its website (OeMAG market price). We could not read a current figure from an official page, so we do not quote one. Compare supplier offers with the OeMAG price. Whether a supplier pays for power exported from a battery, and at what rate, varies by contract, so ask before you plan around it.

Since October 2026 individuals and companies can share, give away or sell self-generated renewable electricity peer to peer, without founding a separate legal entity. At first this works only between metering points of the same grid operator, and nationwide use is expected from April 2027. Energy communities remain an option for sharing within an area (oesterreich.gv.at: self-generation of electricity, updated 1 October 2026).

The new Electricity Act (ElWG, BGBl. I Nr. 91/2025) changes the rules for new solar systems from 1 January 2027. Grid operators may then cap feed-in from new solar systems permanently and without compensation, but not below 70% of the module peak power. A feed-in infrastructure contribution of up to 0.05 ct per kWh applies, with feed-in from systems up to 20 kW exempt. The grid connection fee is waived for systems up to 15 kW. As a transition, operators can offer flexible access that limits feed-in for 12, 18 or 24 months. The same summary says storage that supports the grid could be exempted from withdrawal-side network charges for 20 years, but the final wording is narrower than the first draft and it does not say whether home batteries qualify (WKO Upper Austria on the new electricity laws, 28 January 2026). Many details still need regulations.

VAT and tax

Austria applied a 0% VAT rate to solar modules from 1 January 2024, but Parliament ended it early. For contracts concluded from 1 April 2025 the standard rate of 20% applies, and the zero rate ended on 31 March 2025. A transition rule kept 0% for contracts signed before 7 March 2025 only if the system was delivered or finished by 31 December 2025, and that deadline has passed (WKO: end of the VAT exemption for PV systems, 21 March 2025).

The legal change refers to PV modules. A tax adviser's note we read does not say whether batteries were ever covered, and a ministry page groups storage with the zero rate, so we cannot say for certain. This no longer matters for a new purchase: assume 20% VAT on a battery and confirm it on your quote.

Income from selling solar power is exempt from income tax for natural persons if the module peak is at most 35 kWp, the connection capacity is at most 25 kWp and the yearly feed-in is at most 12,500 kWh, with a partial allowance above that (WKO: tax treatment of PV systems, February 2026). Whether you can deduct input VAT depends on your situation, so ask a tax adviser.

Grants and support schemes

The main federal support is the EAG investment grant, which pays a one-off amount per kWp for a grid-connected solar system and a flat amount for a battery installed with it. For 2026 the rates are €150 per kWp (up to 10 kWp), €140 per kWp (over 10 to 20 kWp) and up to €130 per kWp (over 20 to 100 kWp), and €150 per kWh for storage (EAG funding agency: investment grant for solar and storage).

A battery is funded only together with a solar system, new or extended. It must be at least 0.5 kWh per kWp, the grant covers at most 50 kWh, storage extensions are not eligible, and solar and storage together receive at most 30% of the eligible costs. The first application has to be submitted before the system goes into operation (EAG funding agency: storage conditions). A federal ministry page also describes a 10% Made-in-Europe bonus for the storage grant, for components with European (EEA or Swiss) value added (Federal ministry: the PV funding system).

Funding comes in calls that are open for about two weeks. The 2026 calls ran 23 April to 11 May 2026, 16 to 30 June 2026 and 8 to 22 October 2026; the third closed on 22 October 2026 (EAG funding agency: third call 2026). We could not find the date of the next call. Check the agency's funding calendar before you order, because calls can fill within hours.

Federal states, municipalities and utilities add their own support, for example for balcony solar, storage or solar within housing subsidy schemes. The programmes change often and we could not verify amounts, so look at your state's energy advice page and your municipality. Federal and regional support can generally be combined, within limits on total public aid.

Connecting a battery to the grid

Systems above 0.8 kVA need a grid access application. In Vienna the process is run by a licensed electrical contractor, who files the request, receives the grid operator's offer and, after the work, reports completion. The operator checks the connection on site before it releases feed-in, installs a smart meter if you do not have one, and you need an electricity supply contract and a feed-in grid use contract. The operator sets the maximum feed-in and which components are allowed, and the page says a three-phase inverter is prescribed from 3.6 kVA, with single-phase connections needing approval (Wiener Netze: photovoltaic systems, updated 28 October 2026).

The Wiener Netze pages we read do not mention batteries, and other operators have their own forms and technical rules (TOR Erzeuger). Ask your grid operator whether a battery needs a separate notification and whether it limits export or grid charging, and get the answer before you sign an installation contract. Your installer should file the paperwork and give you a copy.

Safety, wiring and building rules

Fire safety in buildings comes from the Austrian Institute of Construction Engineering's guideline OIB-RL 2, which the federal states apply through their building codes. A regional fire prevention office in Carinthia summarises how it treats batteries: battery rooms count as rooms with increased fire risk, with fire-resistant walls (REI/EI 90), and a battery up to 3 kWh does not need a battery room. Batteries up to 20 kWh that meet recognised safety tests may be installed without one in, for example, low-rise buildings (building class 1), terraced houses (class 2) or garages up to 250 m², with a smoke detector, and a similar exemption exists up to 100 kWh for systems with a test showing that a cell fire does not spread. Batteries may not be placed in stairwells or corridors, except inside dwellings (Brandverhütungsstelle Kärnten: PV systems and stationary batteries). The document is undated and refers to the Carinthian building code, so check the rules of your own state and municipality.

The Austrian fire brigade association's TRVB 165 guideline on battery storage is a draft for comment at the time of writing and is aimed at systems above 100 kWh, so it is not written for home batteries (TRVB 165 draft). Electrical installation rules (OVE E 8101) apply to the wiring. Our guides explain fire risk and battery chemistry and whether a battery can go outside.

Tell your building insurer before installation, and ask in writing whether the battery's location affects your cover. Whether a permit or notification is needed for the solar system or an outdoor battery depends on the state's building code.

Plug-in solar and plug-in batteries

Plug-in solar systems (Balkonkraftwerke) are limited to 800 W. You need no approval from the grid operator, but you must notify it at least two weeks before the system starts. In apartment blocks (WEG), since 1 September 2024 other owners are treated as having consented if they were informed and do not object within two months, and an objection needs no reason (oesterreich.gv.at).

Wiener Netze adds conditions in its area: you register online, the operator may reject the system within two weeks, and it checks and if necessary replaces your meter. It asks for a conformity certificate from an accredited body (under TOR Erzeuger or OVE E 8101 part 7-712), says that a licensed electrician must install the system, and says that earthing-contact plugs (Schuko) are not allowed for connecting generators. Surplus power fed into the grid is not paid (Wiener Netze: plug-in solar, updated 11 August 2026). Other sources describe plug-and-play kits that owners install themselves, for example one with a built-in battery that the industry association Oesterreichs Energie describes as exempt from TOR Erzeuger up to 800 W (Oesterreichs Energie), so the practical rules appear to depend on the product and the operator. Ask your operator.

The sources we read give no clear rule for adding a plug-in battery to a plug-in solar system. Treat any battery with its own inverter as a storage system until your grid operator tells you otherwise. Our guides compare plug-in and installed home batteries and explain balcony power plants with storage.

Outside Austria

Rules, tariffs and incentives for home batteries differ from country to country, so do not apply the figures on this page to a home elsewhere. See the other guides in this section for other countries.

Common questions about Austria