• Existing photovoltaic plant increased by 3.898 MWp to 15.32 MWp total capacity
• Total savings of around 14,000 metric tons of CO2 per year (compared to fossil power production with coal)
• A significant portion of the OMV needs for its own operations is being met by climate-friendly solar power 

OMV, the international integrated oil, gas and chemicals company headquartered in Vienna, and VERBUND, Austria’s largest electricity company and one of the largest producers of electricity from hydropower in Europe, have commissioned the further expansion of the ground-mounted photovoltaic plant on the OMV site in Schönkirchen/Lower Austria. OMV and Verbund have equal stakes in this joint project.

On a 13.3-hectare (133,200 m²) landfill site owned by OMV in Schönkirchen/Lower Austria, a ground-mounted photovoltaic plant with a total output of 15.32 MWp is now operational. The resulting annual output of 15.84 GWh will be used to meet OMV’s own electricity requirements through climate-friendly solar energy. 

In the first expansion phase, a total of 34,600 east-west facing PV modules generated 12.10 GWh of solar electricity, roughly equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 3,400 households with savings equivalent to around 10,000 tonnes of CO2. This existing system has been supplemented by another 8,568 PV modules. The total capacity has thereby increased to 15.32 MWp with 15.84 GWh power generated, which corresponds to the annual electricity consumption of about 5,000 households and saves an additional 4,000 metric tons of CO2 per year.

“Together with VERBUND, we are now starting up the expansion of the ground-mounted photovoltaic plant in Schönkirchen/Lower Austria. In line with the OMV Strategy 2030, with this we are contributing to our goal of expanding the use of solar and wind power for our own operations to at least 1 TWh. This helps achieve our climate targets and allows us to consistently continue our path of reducing our carbon intensity”, Wilhelm Sackmaier, Managing Director OMV Austria Exploration & Production GmbH. 

“The VERBUND Strategy 2030 envisages significant growth in the area of renewable energies, with the goal of achieving around 20-25% of total generation from photovoltaics and onshore wind by 2030”, said Martin Wagner, Managing Director VERBUND Energy4Business. “With the commissioning of the second expansion stage, we are jointly taking another step towards the energy turnaround!”

KeyFacts Energy: OMV Austria country profile