Austria’s Elektrizitätswirtschaftsgesetz (ElWG), published as BGBl. I No. 91/2025, generally entered into force on 24 December 2025, with later commencement dates for specific provisions. It strengthens flexible network access, capacity transparency, network development planning and flexibility procurement. For DSOs, this creates a concrete need to assess available capacity, compare operational measures with reinforcement and document the resulting decisions.
Temporary flexible network access under § 103 ElWG comes with deadlines measured from contract conclusion: 24 months at network level 3, 18 months at levels 4–5 and 12 months at levels 6–7. Documented delays outside the DSO’s control can justify statutory extensions. Permanent flexible arrangements requested by the network user must be distinguished from this temporary route.
Statutory basis: § 103 ElWG (RIS) →Flexible network access sounds like relief — you can say yes to connection requests a constrained grid would previously have refused. It is relief. Under the temporary route of § 103 it is also a commitment with a deadline: from contract conclusion, the statutory period runs until full access under the temporary arrangement is due, subject to other applicable statutory provisions — peak capping under § 101 can remain relevant. Extensions are tied to documented delays outside the DSO’s control; a backlog of your own making does not qualify. Permanent flexible arrangements requested by the network user are a separate route.
This deadline changes the planning problem. Before concluding each temporary flexible connection, an operator needs to know where the capacity for full access will come from within the statutory period: which reinforcement, which topology change, which flexibility contract. Tracking these deadlines reliably requires the connection pipeline, the capacity plan and the grid model to work as one system.
Section 101 ElWG distinguishes PV and wind peak capping. For eligible PV connections, the permitted grid-export limit must not fall below 70% of module peak capacity; the provision is already in force. For eligible wind connections, the right applies from 1 January 2027 and is limited to 1% of a defined reference installation’s annual energy output, with a separate 15% maximum-capacity limit. Statutory exemptions apply. Once controllability is established, dynamic limits must maximise the use of available grid capacity within security requirements — and how much actually gets clipped becomes a visible metric. Two operators with identical grids can arrive at very different answers depending on how well they orchestrate storage, power-to-heat and topology before reaching for the cap.
The ElWG asks for capacity that can be shown, not promised — a grid-modelling problem before it is a construction problem, and one that starts with the measurements and models an operator already has.
The Elektrizitätswirtschaftsgesetz modernises Austria's electricity-market framework. Beyond the duties above, it deliberately strengthens the actors and instruments that turn flexibility into a real operating resource:
Austria’s framework combines several instruments: contractual flexible network access, statutory generation peak capping, market-based flexibility procurement and forward-looking network planning. It differs from Germany’s § 14a framework for defined controllable consumption devices. The comparison concerns these specific instruments, rather than an exclusive choice between direct control and market-based flexibility.
Growing PV generation, EV charging, heat pumps and batteries create congestion in both directions. The ElWG turns flexibility into a genuine alternative and complement to conventional grid reinforcement:
Once flexibility is a legitimate alternative to copper, the operator's job description grows. Austrian DSOs increasingly need to:
Austria does not simply copy Germany's § 14a model. The two frameworks ask different things of a distribution operator:
EnliteAI FLEX supports the analytical work behind these requirements: estimating grid conditions, forecasting congestion, quantifying flexibility needs, calculating operating limits and comparing flexibility with reinforcement. Procurement, operational activation and regulatory reporting depend on the interfaces, workflows and validation included in the implemented solution.
Under §§ 118–119 ElWG, DSOs with at least 1,000 connected metering points must prepare a ten-year network development plan in every even-numbered calendar year. The plan must be notified to E-Control by 30 September, following stakeholder consultation, and published within eight weeks of notification. It must address network development, flexibility and alternatives to reinforcement — and § 118(5) requires existing lines to be optimised or appropriately reinforced before new construction is considered. Many smaller operators carry this planning duty for the first time. Our NEP service is built for that situation, in three steps.
Grid model export (GIS/NEPLAN or equivalent), metering-point structure, feed-in and connection pipeline — against a published checklist sized for small operators.
Load and generation development scenarios, hosting-capacity analysis per grid area, reinforcement needs ranked by urgency — computed on the same FLEX twin technology our large-operator work runs on.
The service supports preparation of a documented NEP draft aligned with §§ 118–119 ElWG and the applicable requirements of the VNEP-V, BGBl. II No. 156/2026. Finalisation requires complete operator inputs, stakeholder consultation and review by the responsible DSO before notification to E-Control.
Scope and pricing are published on this page when the offering launches. If your grid’s data needs more than the defined scope covers, we tell you before any cost changes, not after. New to the NEP duty? Tell us your metering-point count and we’ll tell you what it means for your house.
Published as BGBl. I No. 91/2025 and generally in force since 24 December 2025, with later commencement dates for specific provisions. This layer cannot slip — the Act is law; what remains is implementation.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1747 and Directive (EU) 2024/1711 entered into force on 16 July 2024. They strengthen the European framework for flexibility, flexible connection agreements and capacity transparency. National transposition deadlines and provision-specific implementation requirements must be distinguished from entry into force.
Section 142 ElWG provides for shared digital infrastructure to coordinate flexibility procurement and deployment. Its operational implementation requires common methods, data exchange and coordination between the control-area operator and the relevant DSOs. Preparing reliable grid models and locational flexibility assessments supports this implementation.
Every claim on this page has a concrete Fundstelle: flexible network access and its 24/18/12-month deadlines are § 103 ElWG; capacity publication is § 99; peak capping is § 101; the network development plan is §§ 118–119 with the VNEP-V (BGBl. II No. 156/2026); coordinated flexibility procurement is § 142. The Act was published as BGBl. I No. 91/2025 and generally entered into force on 24 December 2025. The European frame is Regulation (EU) 2024/1747 and Directive (EU) 2024/1711. We keep this page current as secondary legislation lands — if you spot something outdated, tell us. We mean it.
See which of these duties your existing grid can already discharge — quantified, on your own data.
