Austria's Kommunalkredit, eww agree rooftop solar JV

Kommunalkredit Austria AG, a Vienna-based bank specialising in energy and infrastructure financing, and Austrian building solutions provider eww Anlagentechnik GmbH have agreed to create a joint venture for the development, construction and operation of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems in the Alpine country.

The joint venture will offer PV systems of 100 kWp or more on a so-called contracting basis whereas customers will not be required to make an initial investment but will provide rooftop areas where the company will install the systems and then lease them to the customers on a long-term basis. The offer will be initially targeted at commercial and industrial customers as well as municipalities in the domestic market and could be expanded abroad later.

Customers will choose whether to use the electricity generated by the rooftop systems in the building or feed it into the electricity grid.

Eww will be in charge of the development, construction and operation of the systems, while Kommunalcredit will provide financing.

Eww Anlagentechnik, a subsidiary of eww AG, provides electrical and building technology services as well as PV systems mainly to municipalities and companies in Austria.

The announcement comes against the backdrop of increasing demand for rooftop PV systems in Austria. In August, the government provided a further EUR 20 million (USD 23.7m) to the Climate and Energy Fund to support the installation of solar PV systems of up to 50 kW as nearly all of the financing for small-scale installations provided by the fund was already used, causing uncertainty in the sector.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.187)

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