Located in the heart of Europe and having borders with other 8 countries, Austria is an economic, industrial, and cultural motor within the European Union. The River Danube in Austria stretches over 3 out of its 9 federal states, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, and the capital city of Vienna, making up for nearly 5 million inhabitants, which alone represents over 50% of the entire Austrian population. Well aware of Austria’s geostrategic relevance, the government of Austria has since decades been promoting the development and introduction of renewable energy technologies as part of its national energy policy. Its commitment to the energy transition is undertaken, among others measures, by the promotion of hydrogen technologies based on renewables as a cornerstone of its Energy and Climate Strategy aiming at securing Austria’s leading role on the promising European renewable hydrogen market in the future. Consequently, the Austrian legal framework stipulates, among others, measures to create basic condition for the injection of 5 TWh biogas and renewable hydrogen into the existing gas infrastructure by 2030.

In order to foster the decarbonization of the energy system, Austrian national authorities, like the Austrian Federal Ministry of Climate Action and the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund, strongly support innovative, sustainable initiatives. Several research and development projects related to the power-to-gas technology in Austria are interlinked under the umbrella of WIVA P&G (Hydrogen Initiative Energy Flagship Region Austria Power & Gas), a research association engaged in the coordination of power-to-gas related initiatives. Its major purpose is to demonstrate that renewable hydrogen will be fundamental for a future carbon-neutral energy sector and to ensure Austria’s positioning in this emerging energy market. WIVA P&G promotes the networking of institutions seeking to foster power-to-gas deployment, where member organizations capitalize on the experience built upon 40 completed and ongoing research and demonstration projects. Current developments concerning power-to-gas technology deployment are continuously discussed in several working groups and streamlined solutions for existing challenges are identified.

The Danube Region holds huge potential for sustainable generation and storage of renewable energy. However, to date this region is highly dependent on energy imports, while energy efficiency, diversity and renewables share are low. In line with the EU climate targets for 2030 and the targets of the European Strategy for the Danube Region, DanuP-2-Gas supports transnational energy planning by strengthening generation and storage strategies for renewables in the Danube Region via advanced sector coupling technologies.