Jobs, jobs, jobs – in these times of global economic and financial crisis, important points on the economic agenda are not only to secure jobs, but also to create new growth industries. The magic formula in this context is “Green Jobs”. One thing is clear: The jobs of the future are in the sector of environmental technologies. “Environmental protection is a worldwide growth market,” as Austrian environment minister Niki Berlakovich points out. “The massive expansion of the fields of renewable energies and innovative environmental technologies brings enormous potential for boosting the economy. With Green Jobs, we can steer out of the crisis.” Today, as many as 179,000 people are employed in Green Jobs in Austria; that is approximately 4.5 percent of the entire workforce, and the trend is rising. According to a study conducted by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research in 2008, the environmental technology industry alone generated revenue of six billion EUR in 2007, two thirds of which were generated through exports. This equals a share of 2.2 percent of the nominal gross domestic product. In the last few years, the number of people employed in this sector rose by 6.6 percent on average.

EU Energy Goals as Driving Force

According to calculations by the European Commission, approximately 420,000 new Green Jobs will be created in Europe by 2015. In Austria, there could be approximately 75,000 new jobs created in the environmental technologies sector by 2020, if the EU goal of increasing the share of renewable energies in total energy consumption from currently 23 percent to 34 percent is implemented. With the “20-20-20” climate protection package, Europe plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020, compared to the values from 1990. In order to achieve this, the EU-wide share of green energies (from water, wind, solar and biomass sources) is set to be expanded from currently 8.5 percent to 20 percent. In addition, energy efficiency is planned to be increased by 20 percent through energy savings measures. Austria could play a leading role in this, especially due to its already high, above-average share of renewable energies. “After the failure of the Kyoto process, Austria could be the first country in the EU to accomplish the breakthrough and feed on 100 percent clean energy from water, wind, sun and biomass/biogas by 2020,” Hans Kronberger, President of the Photovoltaic Austria Federal Association, is convinced. At a joint “energy summit” in mid-December of 2009, an ambitious scenario was laid out by the interest groups for green energies (Austrian Biomass Association, Austrian Wind Energy Association, Photovoltaic Austria, Small-Scale Hydropower Austria and ARGE Compost & Biogas): It should be possible to expand the annual energy production from renewable sources from currently approximately 45 TWh (terawatt hours) to almost 70 TWh. If at the same time increased energy efficiency measures can keep energy consumption in 2020 to the same level as in 2008, the share of clean energy in Austria could be brought up to 100 percent from the current 64 percent.

Burgenland wants 100% Green Energy by 2013

According to a resolution by the provincial government, Burgenland is planning to achieve the ambitious and commendable goal of 100 percent energy autonomy as early as 2013. Thanks to wind conditions similar to the North Sea coast, the eastern-most province is relying on the use of wind energy for this. At the moment, 206 wind farms with a total output of 370 megawatt (MW) already cover half of Burgenland’s energy requirements; an additional ten percent of energy is generated from biomass facilities. With such a high share of wind energy, Burgenland is not only ahead of the game in Austria, but is even one of the leading wind regions worldwide. “With the existing wind turbines alone, we are saving approximately 550,000 tonnes of CO2 every year. That is much more than all of Burgenland’s 170,000 cars emit in one year,” Governor Hans Niessl is excited. With approximately 150 turbines in ten wind parks and 248 MW of installed wind power output, Austrian Wind Power (AWP), a subsidiary of Burgenland’s provincial energy supplier BEWAG, is the largest wind energy supplier in Austria. They are planning to add another 200 MW of wind energy within the next four years.

End of Stagnation Period for Green Energy

The parliament has created the framework conditions for a new green energy offensive in Austria: On September 23rd, 2009, after a 14 month delay, the national assembly at last gave the green light for the green energy law which was revised in July of 2008. Meeting the goals outlined in it would trigger investments totalling 3.8 billion EUR by 2015, primarily in small and medium-sized enterprises. According to the green energy law, the use of wind power alone is planned to be increased by 700 MW – that would mean investments of 1.3 billion EUR. “Through the initial investments and the subsequent operations, wind power would ensure domestic value creation of one billion EUR. 3,500 one-year jobs would be created during construction, and 700 jobs for the long term,” as Stefan Hantsch, Managing Director of the Austrian Wind Energy Association, calculates. Even during the years of stagnation caused by the legal situation (a mere 17 out of the total 617 wind turbines were erected here between 2007 and 2009), Austria’s wind industry has not been idle. Planners and operators such as Windkraft Simonsfeld AG and WEB Windenergie AG became active outside the borders and invested approximately 170 million EUR in Eastern Europe alone between 2008 and 2009. And Austria’s supply companies for wind turbine manufacturing are by now exporting over 350 million EUR per year (at an annual growth rate of 20 to 25 percent) and are world leaders in some areas:

• Every third wind turbine worldwide has a control system by Vorarlberg based company Bachmann, which makes them the world market leader.

• Upper-Austrian company Hexcel is the main supplier for high-tech composite materials for wing production.

• The traditional company Elin with head office in Weiz is the generator supplier for the world market leaders from Denmark and Germany. They also export to Korea.

• Klagenfurt based company Windtec develops wind turbines. Corporate groups such as Hyundai are among their clients; every third wind turbine in China was designed in Klagenfurt.

Leader in Biomass Technology

“All over the world, green energy politics is more and more considered technology politics, where it’s about developing technological innovations for a giant global market faster than other countries,” emphasizes Heinz Kopetz, President of the European and Austrian Biomass Association. Prime example: KWB Biomass Heating Systems, one of Austria’s most successful furnace producers, operates Europe’s most modern and largest private research and innovation centre for biomass in St. Margarethen/Raab. All in all, the domestic pellet industry has developed into the undisputed technology leader for small and medium-sized heating systems. “Austrian furnace manufacturers are exporting up to 80 percent of their production volume. The industry’s annual revenue has by now exceeded one billion,” says Christian Rakos, Managing Director of the association proPellets Austria. The basis for this is the rising number of sales at home: This year, as many as 71,000 households and businesses in Austria were heated using wooden pellets (an increase of 13.6 percent compared to 2008). And with 725,000 tonnes, the domestic pellet manufacturers were able to set a new production record.

“Vienna Model” as Showcase Project

Wien Energie, Austria’s largest regional energy service provider, also relies on innovative energy production. Europe’ largest forest biomass power plant in Simmering, where 200,000 tonnes of wood are being burnt and 144,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions are saved every year, received positive feedback in the “European Green City Index”, where Vienna ranked number four as Europe’s “greenest” megacity (city with over one million inhabitants). Four other cogeneration plants, which generate heat and power with an exemplary level of efficiency of up to 86 percent, are part of the so-called “Vienna Model”. Thanks to this European showcase project, Vienna’s 5.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions per inhabitant are merely half of the Austrian average. But Vienna wants to improve even more: The district heating expansion goal is a 50 percent share in the space heating market by 2020. Renate Brauner, Deputy Mayor: “All in all, Vienna’s public utility company, Wiener Stadtwerke, will invest almost two billion EUR by 2014 in a secure and ecological energy supply.”

Verbund Relies on Expansion

of Hydropower and their Network

Verbund, Austria’s largest energy supplier by far, is the fourth-largest producer of hydropower and one of Europe’s most profitable energy companies. “Among the energy companies, we are currently number five in Europe in the field of renewable energies. My goal is to strengthen this position and move up in the ranking to the Top 3,” says Verbund’s Chairman of the Board, Wolfgang Anzengruber. This should be achieved through the expansion of hydropower capacities, especially on the storage side. Anzengruber: “The storage requirement for peak load energy, which is primarily driven by the expansion of wind power usage all over Europe, is immense. We see great potential here.” Therefore, Verbund is looking to significantly expand its own wind power capacities (currently approximately 300 MW abroad and approx. 50 MW in Austria). The wind power generated in Eastern Austria and other countries can then be converted into premium hydropower in Verbund’s pump storage power plants in the alpine regions of Salzburg and Carinthia. “We are working on becoming Europe’s ‘green battery’,” says Anzengruber.

Expansion of Transmission Networks

The prerequisite for an expansion of the domestic power plant landscape and the security of supply is a modern transmission network. With the opening of the Styria power line in late summer of 2009, an important gap in the domestic extra-high tension network was closed. As part of the “Network Master Plan”, the independent subsidiary Verbund-Austrian Power Grid AG (APG) is planning to invest approximately one billion EUR in further modernizations and upgrades by 2020. The high and extra-high tension network, approximately 3,500 kilometres long, is the backbone of the domestic electricity supply. Its nerve centre is a new steering and control centre – the “Power Grid Control” in Vienna’s Favoriten district, which was brought on line at the end of October 2009. This is where all nerves (or better, network information) of the domestic transmission network meet, 365 days of the year. The “Power Grid Control” is to the Austrian power network what the control tower is to air traffic. APG Director Heinz Kaupa: “The liberalization of the energy market and the growing integration of the Austrian energy network into the entire European network are giving us new challenges with regard to power trading and secure, efficient network management.” [ GH ]