Austria’s largest ground-mounted solar thermal plant was ceremonially opened a few days ago in Mürzzuschlag by Ursula Lackner, Styrian State Councillor for the Environment, and Karl Rudischer, Mayor of Mürzzuschlag, as well as Bernd Vogl, Managing Director of the Climate and Energy Fund, together with Stephan Jantscher, SOLID – Solar Energy Systems, and Thomas Hochörtler, Stadtwerke Mürzzuschlag, as well as representatives of the Green Energy Lab and AEE INTEC. In the future, 7000 m2 of high-performance collectors with 5 megawatts of power will supply around 420 apartments in Mürzzuschlag with environmentally friendly heat from the sun. In the summer months, the heat required in Mürzzuschlag will in future be generated entirely from solar energy. The large-scale solar plant project in Mürzzuschlag thus makes an important contribution to the ecological heat transition and enables district heating customers to participate in the energy transition. The project is financially supported by the Climate and Energy Fund and the province of Styria. The plant has already been awarded the Energy Globe Styria for its exemplary function and was also part of the large-scale research project ThermaFLEX, which was awarded the Energy Globe Austria in June 2023.
The importance of the Mürzzuschlager lighthouse project for the transformation of the energy system in the direction of renewable energies and the achievement of the Styrian climate goals is the focus of the Styrian Environment Minister Ursula Lackner in her opening statement: “The energy crisis last winter has once again clearly underlined how fatal the dependence on oil and gas is. Not only for our climate, but also for a secure energy supply in our country. That’s why it’s so important that we manage to phase out fossil fuels. With projects like the solar thermal plant in Mürzzuschlag, we in Styria are taking big steps towards more energy independence, climate protection and, ultimately, an affordable and secure energy supply for the people of Styria.” Therefore, the expansion of the large-scale solar plant is financially supported by the province of Styria with 280,000 euros.
Further detail at: https://www.solid.at/en
