Wiener Stadtwerke chief Weinelt: Renewable energy as the answer to global crises

Nevertheless, the impact on prices is noticeable. Weinelt spoke of a "Jo-Jo-Spiel" along the political developments surrounding ceasefires and other agreements between the warring parties. These price movements are directly relevant for an energy supply company, as they are passed on directly to end customers.

Geopolitical situation and price fluctuations

Regardless of where one looks, whether at temperatures and the recent heatwave or at the Strait of Hormuz and the global impacts of the war in the region, "wir landen immer beim selben Thema, dass Investitionen in die erneuerbaren Energien zur Resilienz beitragen, beim Strom wie bei der Wärme," said Weinelt.

On the electricity side, drought this year has led to less generation from run-of-river hydropower, while the heat has pushed electricity demand up by around 20 percent recently, driven in part by air conditioning. "Der Klimawandel ist eine Tatsache, das merkt man an der Trockenheit, das merkt man an den Temperaturen," said Weinelt. "Deshalb brauchen wir wie den berühmten Bissen Brot die Photovoltaik und vor allem den Wind," said Weinelt.

Climate change and electricity generation

Weinelt also described the geopolitical dependence on fossil energy sources as a risk. "Das sind alles Erpressungssituationen, denen man sich nicht sehenden Auges langfristig ausliefern kann." Weinelt sees this at the same time as a "Riesenchance" for industry. "Wir haben in Europa seit 2022 auf die schmerzhafte Tour gelernt, was Abhängigkeit bedeutet," said Weinelt.

Against this backdrop, a corporation like Stadtwerke must "vorangehen" and invest in the mobility and energy transition. "Es sind viele Dinge, die die Umsetzung sehr schwierig machen," said Weinelt. He pointed, for example, to the lack of legal obligations for heating replacement: "Das Erneuerbare-Wärme-Gesetz, das nicht gekommen ist, unter der Vorgängerregierung, natürlich war das nicht hilfreich."

Heat transition in Vienna

Wien Energie is currently converting around 10,000 apartments per year from gas floor heating to district heating or heat pump systems. Once fully expanded, around 200,000 of Vienna's roughly 1 million households are to be supplied with geothermal heat in the 2030s. Overall, around 56 percent of Viennese households are then to be heated with district heating, with large heat pumps being deployed in less densely populated and hilly parts of the city.

District heating is currently still produced from around 60 percent fossil gas, with a full switch to renewable energy planned by 2040. The first drilling in Aspern is scheduled to come online in winter 2027, with further major drillings planned in Donaustadt. That corresponds to a mid-sized Austrian town; for Vienna this scale is relatively small, "aber wir sind auf dem Weg dorthin," said Weinelt.

Geothermal energy as the second pillar

Weinelt wants to stick to the targets, because "wenn wir die Ziele jetzt aufweichen, wird das keine Beschleunigung erfahren, wir müssen da draufbleiben." One would then no longer be dependent on whether "durch die Straße von Hormuz ein Tanker" passes through or not, said Weinelt.

If Austria succeeds in making its energy supply largely independent of fossil energy sources, the country would save itself "die berühmten 10 bis 12 Milliarden Euro" spent annually on petrol, diesel, and gas. There are various studies on this, "aber es reicht die Praxis," said Weinelt in conversation with APA.