Austria energy mix & electricity

Electricity generation in Austria reached 73.2 TWh in 2025. That is similar to Belgium. More than half of it, 51.8%, came from hydropower; solar power was a distant second with 14.1%.

83.6% of the country’s power came from renewable sources: 24th of 158 countries (in the top quarter). This puts it 50 points above the world average of 33.8%. It is also above the average for Europe (41.6%). That beats the EU-27 average of 47.7%. Each kilowatt-hour emitted on average 117 g CO₂e, against a world average of 458 g. That is a very low-carbon power system. On carbon intensity, Austria ranks 25th of 158 from the cleanest.

Since 2015, the fastest-growing source has been solar power: its output rose by 9.4 TWh, lifting its share by 12.6 percentage points. The biggest decline came from coal (−3 TWh). Taken together, the renewable share rose by 6.6 percentage points over the decade. Total generation grew by 11.4 TWh over the same period. Carbon intensity dropped from 172 to 117 g/kWh, a 32% cut.

Austria has all but eliminated coal power: it supplied 14.6% of electricity at its peak in 2003, against less than 1% now.

Wind and solar together provided 25.4% of electricity (solar 14.1%, wind 11.3%), compared with 17.3% worldwide. Per person, that is 1,131 kWh of solar electricity a year, 3.4× the global average. In solar electricity per person, Austria ranks 8th in the world. Wind adds 912 kWh per person, the 19th-highest figure of 156 countries. Solar first passed 1% of the mix in 2014.

Austria generates 8,034 kWh of electricity per resident each year, 2.1 times the global average. Imports cover around 3% of demand: Austria bought 2.6 TWh more electricity than it exported.