According to the “Erneuerbaren-Ausbau-Gesetz” (EAG), the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) is obliged to prepare an integrated Austrian network infrastructure plan at regular intervals. This NIP serves as a strategic planning instrument for an overarching and comprehensive assessment of the necessary infrastructure measures for a sustainable energy system. As a result, the NIP provides a planning basis for the expansion of transmission network infrastructure and for the expansion of storage and flexibility options by the year 2030. Furthermore, an outlook also addresses the necessary infrastructure measures to achieve climate neutrality by the year 2040.
In the development of the NIP by the BMK, numerous stakeholders from the energy industry, environmental organizations, social partners, politics, and administration at federal and state levels are involved. Essentially, the NIP is based on scientific research, with the Chair of Energy Network Technology playing a significant role in this process. In this context, methodologies tested within other projects at the Chair can be utilized for the spatial and temporal allocation of scenario data. Thus, the data foundation for a high-resolution network modeling is established, from which the demand for expansion and reconstruction measures in the transmission networks for electricity and gas, as well as the need for flexibilization measures, can be derived.
Regionalized annual electricity demand in the NIP scenario 2030
A draft of the NIP entered a public consultation phase in July 2023, allowing for written comments. In a subsequent step, also with significant input from the Chair of Energy Network Technology, the feedback received during the consultation is being incorporated.
A fundamental insight from the NIP is the identification of electricity transport demand corridors. These corridors indicate regions where future expansion projects in the transmission network are needed, with the detailed planning of these expansions being carried out by the network operators.
Considering flexibility deployment, it can be inferred that overloads in the network could be relieved through supportive operation of flexibilities. However, as evident, expansion and supportive deployment of flexibilities options alone cannot replace the expansion measures proposed in the electricity transport demand corridors.
Gas network measures will also play a pivotal role in the future energy system. Based on scenario-based and regionalized gas demand, parts of the existing gas network will be used as a basis for developing a parallel hydrogen infrastructure. Together with the use of biomethane instead of natural gas, this transition aims to ensure a shift to an energy system reliant on climate-neutral gases by 2040, with an interim target of 2030.
This project is being carried out on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology.
