Austria’s renewable energy company PÜSPÖK is receiving €57 million in financing from the European Investment Bank to develop an integrated “super-hybrid” energy park in Nickelsdorf, in the eastern state of Burgenland.
The project combines wind power, solar panels and battery storage using shared infrastructure across four sites in Burgenland, including Nickelsdorf, according to the European Investment Bank (EIB), which issued a release on Monday.
A portion of the financing — 10% — will be made available to domestic lender Erste Bank as a national financing partner for refinancing purposes.
Total EIB support for the wider Burgenland project now amounts to about €200 million.
The Nickelsdorf site is described as the second-largest “super-hybrid” park of its kind in Europe.
Wind, solar and batteries — plus farming under solar panels
A key component of the Burgenland project is agri-photovoltaics, which involves installing solar panels above arable and grassland so the land can be used for both farming and electricity generation, the EIB said.
Agri-photovoltaics and wind power in the project already supply more than 300,000 households in Austria with electricity.
The battery storage system at Nickelsdorf is due to be commissioned this month, adding storage and flexibility capacity to the site.
PÜSPÖK has 114 wind turbines and generates around one terawatt-hour of electricity annually — about 2% of Austria’s electricity demand.
Further hybrid power plants are under development in Gattendorf, Mönchhof and St. Andrä and are expected to come online gradually in the coming months, PÜSPÖK CEO Lukas Püspök said.
The project is being implemented under the EU’s REPowerEU programme, which is intended to reduce Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels and accelerate the roll-out of renewable energy.
