Austria introduces “Made in Europe” solar subsidy bonus

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Vice-chancellor of Austria, Werner Kogler, said the subsidy is “the only way we can ensure that European production can hold its own against international competition.” Credit: SolarPower Europe

The Austrian government has introduced a “made in Europe” subsidy bonus for European photovoltaic components.

Vice-chancellor of Austria, Werner Kogler, said the subsidy is “the only way we can ensure that European production can hold its own against international competition”.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The subsidy bonus will be delivered under Austria’s Renewable Energy Expansion Act (EAG), the country’s main energy transition framework law. Applicants for EAG funding for solar installations will be able to subsidise any investment with up to 20% of its total value, depending on how many European components are used.

The Ministry of Climate Action and Energy said that projects must deploy a “mimumum proportion” of European-made components, but it did not specify what that proportion is or which components in a solar installation are included.

In a public statement, the Ministry said: “The Made in Europe bonus is intended to provide targeted support to companies in Austria and Europe: If products from Europe are installed in new solar power plants, there are higher subsidy rates.”

Vice-chancellor Kogler said: “Anyone who really wants to strengthen European environmental technologies must also provide the appropriate investment incentives. That is why the “Made in Europe” principle should be a key part of Austria’s funding culture. This is the only way we can ensure that European production can hold its own against international competition.”

Beyond the direct ingot-module solar supply chain, the Ministry of Climate Action and Energy suggested that the “Made in Europe” bonus could support other parts of solar supply: “companies in the fields of electronics, semiconductor technology, the glass and metalworking industry, digitisation and software.”

Labour and economics minister Martin Kocher added: “Other parts of the world are taking measures to gain strategic advantages in the production of technologies relevant to decarbonisation. Europe must not be naive. With the ‘Made in Europe bonus’ we are guaranteeing fair competition and enabling Austrian and European manufacturers to have a level playing field. We will continue to advocate for a fair, rules-based, multilateral world trade order at EU level.”

In April, the European Union and its member states announced a Solar Charter with a view to “supporting the competitiveness of the European PV manufacturing industry and promoting the creation of a market for high-quality products meeting high sustainability and resilience criteria”.

Concrete measures have been somewhat absent since the Charter’s announcement, though last last month the European Council passed a vote in favour of the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA), which will see it come into effect this month. The NZIA includes a number of measures designed to support Europe’s floundering renewable energy manufacturing base, including “non-price” criteria for solar tenders designed to give an advantage to ostensibly more sustainably and equitably produced European products.

3 June 2025
Messe Stuttgart Stuttgart, Germany
Meet battery manufacturers, suppliers, engineers, thought leaders and decision-makers for a conference and battery tech expo focused on the latest developments in the advanced battery and automotive industries. Stay plugged in for all the latest information on The Battery Show Europe 2024 including: Keynote Speakers & Conference Overview Show Features Floor Plan & Exhibitor News Travel & Transport information
17 June 2025
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 17-18 June 2025, will be our fourth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2026 and beyond.
25 November 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Large Scale Solar Central and Eastern Europe continues to be the place to leverage a network that has been made over more than 10 years, to build critical partnerships to develop solar projects throughout the region.
25 November 2025
Málaga, Spain
Understanding PV module supply to the European market in 2026. PV ModuleTech Europe 2025 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of module supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, traceability of supply-chain, factory auditing, module testing and reliability, and company bankability.

Read Next

March 17, 2025
CIP said it expected the CI V fund to add up to 30GW of renewable energy generation and storage assets to global energy grids.
Premium
March 14, 2025
China's latest tender results show the spot price of n-type modules increasing from RMB0.7/W to as much as RMB0.75/W.
Premium
March 14, 2025
Many of the mechanisms used to manage the finances of the solar sector have not kept pace with the rate of capacity additions.
March 14, 2025
The capacity is spread across three commissioned projects: the 40MWp Greenberry, 40MW Fontenet 3 and the 47MW Amance projects.
March 14, 2025
Under this new domestic content requirement, solar PV cells based on crystalline-silicon technology would be considered to be domestically manufactured only if they used undiffused silicon wafers.
March 14, 2025
Terabase Energy has raised US$130 million in finance to support the scale-up of its Terafab solar project assembly line.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
March 18, 2025
Sydney, Australia
Upcoming Webinars
March 19, 2025
11am EST / 4pm GMT / 5pm CET
Solar Media Events
March 25, 2025
Lisbon, Portugal
Solar Media Events
March 26, 2025
Renaissance Dallas Addison Hotel, Dallas, Texas