Austria has inaugurated its first tracking agrivoltaic system designed to feed solar power directly into the railway grid. The 6.6 MW facility in Donnerskirchen combines renewable energy generation, organic farming, and biodiversity measures on the same site.
A unique agrivoltaic system has been inaugurated in Donnerskirchen, in Austria’s Burgenland region. The 6.6 MW agrivoltaic installation uses single-axis trackers and supplies the electricity it generates directly to the country’s 16.7 Hz railway power grid.
Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) receives solar power directly through its railway electricity network, while Esterhazy Betriebe AG continues organic farming operations on the site. Local energy company Burgenland Energie was also involved in developing the project.
According to ÖBB, the installation is Austria’s first tracking agrivoltaic system designed specifically to supply railway power. Built on a seven-hectare site alongside the railway line, the plant is expected to generate around 8.3 GWh of electricity annually. The output is fed directly into the railway grid and can cover the equivalent of approximately 32,500 train journeys per year between Vienna and Eisenstadt, a distance of around 60 kilometers.
