How wind power grew in Austria
Austrian wind pioneers founded the association IG Windkraft in 1993. In 1994 a grid-connected turbine went up at Wagram an der Donau in Lower Austria, and a 110 kW turbine at the St. Pölten road department. The first wind farm opened at Eberschwang in Upper Austria on 1 May 1996, with two 500 kW turbines.
Support laws set the pace of building. The Green Electricity Act paid 7.8 euro cents/kWh for 13 years from 2003, and 276 MW went up that year alone. From July 2006 money for new plants was cut to €17m a year, and building stalled until 2009. After a new act in 2012, yearly wind output doubled from 3 TWh to 6 TWh within four years. Cooperatives and private firms owned about 60% of turbines in 2023, and utilities 40%. Enercon made 56% of the fleet and Vestas about 30% at the end of 2022.
At the end of 2025 Austria had 1,447 turbines with 4,221 MW, and Lower Austria and Burgenland held 3,813 MW of it. Wind generated 8.31 TWh in 2025, 11.3% of generation. In June 2026 the National Council passed a law requiring binding expansion targets for each state, and states that miss them lose federal funds. It raises the national renewables target from 27 TWh to 30 TWh by 2030, and to at least 40 TWh a year by 2035.
Sources: IG Windkraft · Waltner · WINDKRAFT Österreich · IEA Wind TCP · Klima- und Energiefonds · WINDKRAFT Österreich · Ember · ORF
Where Austria's power comes from, 2025
| Source | Share of electricity |
|---|---|
| Hydro | 51.8% |
| Solar | 14.1% |
| Gas | 12.0% |
| Wind | 11.3% |
| Bioenergy | 6.4% |
| Other fossil fuels | 4.5% |
Wind farms in Austria
We track 122 wind farms in Austria: 3.1 GW operating and 0.6 GW under construction, consented or planned. Each one's owners, turbines and status are in the Wind app.
Electricity data: Ember yearly electricity data (CC BY 4.0). Wind farms: national registers and Global Energy Monitor; see data sources.
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