The energy transition will not be possible without efficient grids. This was emphasised by the Managing Director of Netz Oberösterreich, Michael Haselauer, at the energy policy background discussion of the Security of Supply Forum on 2 October 2025. In order to make the electricity grid fit for the requirements of the future, the largest and most comprehensive conversion of the grids is on the agenda - in other words, a Herculean task must be mastered. This is necessary because electricity demand will almost double by 2040 - from around 70 TWh at present to up to 140 TWh. At the same time, fossil fuels are to be completely replaced. Electricity from photovoltaics or wind power and renewable gases such as biogas or hydrogen are set to become the central building blocks of this transformation.

• According to the so-called transition scenario in the Austrian Grid Infrastructure Plan 2040 (ÖNIP), prepared by the Federal Environment Agency, the grid operators assume the following framework conditions:
• Gross energy consumption 2040: 268 TWh - this corresponds to a reduction of 1/3 of Austria's current total annual energy consumption of 396 TWh;
• Fossil gas is to be reduced to 0 TWh by 2040;
• Biogas (biomethane) is to contribute 10 TWh per year to meeting energy demand by 2024;
• Biogas in Upper Austria should contribute 2.5 TWh by 2040 - these would be available "close to the pipeline";
• Hydrogen consumption (H2) to increase to 48 TWh per year by 2040;
• Domestic H2 production should amount to 12 TWh per year (capacity 3 GW);
• H2 pipeline transport capacity to reach > 2 million Nm3/h by 2040.

"Companies want to invest billions in a secure supply for people and businesses. To achieve this, we need the appropriate legal framework, above all the new Electricity Industry Act (ElWG) and the Renewable Energy Expansion Acceleration Act (EABG), as this is the only way to continue the expansion quickly," says Ms Brigitte Ederer, spokesperson for the Security of Supply Forum

A transparent process in this regard is paramount: the new Electricity Industry and Energy Act is to stipulate rules on how the public is to be informed about the various grid expansion plans - something that Michael Haselauer expressly supports. "The grid operators in the province of Upper Austria (Netz Oberösterreich, Linz Netz, APG, EWW and Ennskraft) have already been using the electricity grid master plan since 2016 to create an instrument that fulfils the exact requirements of the law," says Haselauer. In addition, all distribution system operators with high-voltage lines throughout Austria support this initiative. Haselauer: "All grid operators concerned have presented all important grid expansion projects in accordance with standardised specifications and made them publicly available without restriction. We are faster than the law and are transparent about what is planned where and when!" All grid operators concerned published these "distribution grid development plans" (VNEP) for the first time in September 2024. Since then, they have been available in full and freely accessible to everyone on hundreds of pages. See https://www.ebutilitie s.at/informationen/VNEP

The development plans include lines and substations at the 110 kV high-voltage level, as well as significant medium-voltage projects in the respective supply areas. However, the latter are only a fraction of the total list of grid operators that realise tens of thousands of individual projects every year, some of which only have planning and implementation periods of a few months. In addition, many other digital tools are available to customers in a wide variety of forms. These range from an overview map of transformer station capacities throughout Austria and planning portals for large-scale PV systems and energy communities to tools for the integration of biogas and hydrogen for customers and planning offices. In addition to these transparency lighthouses, there are also "mandatory tasks" that the grid operators have been offering in the online portals for some time. Together with the full smart meter roll-out, which is nearing completion, additional functions can be created to provide more insight into one's own energy consumption.

Last but not least, however, it will take more than technology to keep pace with the expansion of the grid: "We can no longer afford a process that takes years," emphasises Haselauer on behalf of the grid operators. One hope lies in facilitating authorisation and shortening procedures for grid reinforcements and renewals. There are also clear priority rules for projects in the public interest, accelerated approvals and a regulatory turnaround that enables forward-looking investments - in addition to an urgently needed turnaround in acceptance: "The energy transition will only succeed if politics, business and society pull together." After all, grid expansion is one of Austria's most important generational projects. The investments being made today will secure Austria's energy supply for decades to come.

Based on the tasks of the grid operators, which are very well presented and explained in the Security of Supply Forum, the following additional questions/concerns may arise for energy-interested observers.

If one reads the ÖNIP - which contains the technical and time requirements for the grid operators - carefully, it becomes clear that this document is based on relatively old data - taken from relevant studies. For example, at the time the relevant studies - which in turn are based on even older data - were prepared, the significance of AI was not fully foreseeable. Note: in the USA, a significant increase in electricity demand and performance is assumed due to the data centres associated with AI. CCUS (Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage) was also not discussed in depth at the time. Although it is not (yet?) the task of energy network operators to transport CO2, CCS technology will consume large amounts of electricity. For example, a carbon capture facility downstream of a natural gas turbine requires around 10% of the natural gas turbine's output. This does not even include the compression of the CO2 and transport by means of pumps or compressors. Electricity storage technology has also developed rapidly in recent years - both in terms of specific storage capacity and specific investment sizes. It should be mentioned here that the promotion of PV systems could be linked to existing storage devices or to the revenue-maximising and non-yield-optimised alignment of the PV systems. The future cooling requirements must also be included in the ÖNIP. The study "Urban cooling demand in Austria 2030/2050" published in 2025, commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, assumes a cooling demand of 3 - 19 TWh per year, depending on the respective study authors. The study assumes that cooling degree days will increase by between 50 - 100% by 2050. Although the study does not recommend how cooling should be realised, each of the technologies described requires considerable amounts of electricity. Although the maximum cooling capacity would occur if the PV systems were also to deliver the greatest output, human behaviour must be taken into account. Very often people come home after work and only then switch on the air conditioning - but then with the highest output of the, possibly oversized, system - thus when the sun no longer shines or shines to a lesser extent - consequently the PV systems produce less electricity.

With regard to the aforementioned biomethane volume of 10 TWh per year from 2040, this means that from now until 2040, a new/overhauled plant with an average size of approx. 150 Nm3/h would have to be connected to the grid every week - including the connection lines. In my opinion, this is a bold target.
You can see that the grid operators need to be provided with data/specifications that are more in line with the developments briefly outlined here. The grid operators, who somehow find themselves in a sandwich position between customer requirements and legal requirements - especially as their freedom of decision is also somewhat restricted by the regulatory authority - should not be the ones to suffer from the lack of clear legal requirements.

Note: Forum Versorgungssicherheit is the joint platform of five distribution system operators: Wiener Netze, Netz Niederösterreich, Netz Burgenland, Linz Netz and Netz Oberösterreich.