5 Years of W.E.B in Graz

Rooted in the Region, Growing Together

For five years, W.E.B has been developing wind and photovoltaic projects for Styria, Carinthia, and Salzburg from its Graz office. The anniversary provided an opportunity to celebrate successful projects, such as the photovoltaic system for VinziWerke, together with shareholders, partners, and long-standing supporters — and to look ahead to the future.

Shareholders, partners, and representatives from politics and business accepted the invitation to the Graz office. W.E.B Executive Board members Michael Trcka and Florian Müller, as well as Arnold Kainz and Stefan Döber, Managing Directors of W.E.B Erneuerbare GmbH, also took the opportunity to connect personally with key partners and supporters.

The evening focused on the development of the Graz office. What began with just one person in 2020 has grown into a team of seven. Over the past five years, the team has already launched the Rohr I and Rohr II ground-mounted photovoltaic projects near Hartberg. As part of W.E.B’s Green Energy 4 All initiative, the Graz team also installed a donated photovoltaic system for VinziWerke in Graz. Valued at around EUR 30,000, the system now supplies the social services organization with clean solar power.

DI Josef Bärnthaler from Energieagentur Obersteiermark provided fascinating technical insights in his keynote presentation. He outlined Styria’s wind energy potential and illustrated the differences between planning wind energy projects in lowland and alpine regions. Project Manager Herwig Marx shared personal anecdotes highlighting the challenges of project development in mountainous terrain: On more than one occasion, he had to put on touring skis to service a LiDAR wind measurement device in several meters of snow.

The evening was not only an opportunity to celebrate but also to look ahead. Florian Müller highlighted energy storage as a key topic for the future. The Graz team is currently developing around 16 storage projects with a total capacity of more than 170 MWh. W.E.B is pursuing both stand-alone battery storage systems to help stabilize the power grid and hybrid power plants that combine wind or solar PV systems with battery storage. This allows renewable electricity to be used even more efficiently while further strengthening security of supply.

With a strong project pipeline and growing expertise, the Graz office has become an important regional hub for W.E.B and will continue to play an active role in driving the energy transition in southern Austria in the years ahead.