Climate and environment
The WEIZplus region of Eastern Styria, which has 41 communities and 120,000 inhabitants, wants to take its entire energy supply into its own hands. The goal of the joint efforts is to achieve complete energy independence by 2040.
The energy district in East Styria called WEIZplus has come into the spotlight not only at the national level but also at the international level with its project. In a newly founded cooperative, 41 communities, companies, energy suppliers, grid operators and, above all, residents of the region are working together on the energy transition.
Focus on wood, hydroelectric and photovoltaic systems
According to Raphael Bramreiter, Managing Director of WEIZplus, the goal is “to implement the energy transition and demonstrate how the energy transition can be implemented using practical examples, that is, in a real laboratory, in a real environment.”
The project must succeed exclusively with power and energy sources from the region – the focus being primarily on timber, small hydropower or dual-use agricultural PV systems.
The federal and state governments are contributing €5.2 million
But this is a long process: “We will be able to do this by 2040, if ever. “The goal is to be able to at least cover 100 percent of our electricity with renewable energy by 2030,” says Bramreiter. The WEIZplus district now operates one of three “real-world laboratories” across Austria; the project started in January. For the start-up phase, the project, which received an award from the Ministry of the Environment, has support from the federal and state governments in the amount of 5.2 million euros.
