Maximum energy on minimum space in infrastructure

The mobility sector is one of the most significant energy demanding sectors in Austria. A key factor is soil sealing, which is necessary for energy production, leading to conflicts between energy production and other land uses.

ASFINAG now faces the challenge of expanding its energy supply for and along existing infrastructure while at the same time making it more sustainable and space-efficient. In times of increasing soil sealing, continuously growing energy demand, and growing resilience requirements, existing traffic areas and adjacent areas owned by ASFINAG are to be made usable for local energy production (both electricity and thermal energy). The aim is to find innovative solutions that are not only ecologically sensible but also technically and economically viable.

A related challenge is the supply of energy-intensive infrastructure such as tunnels or highway maintenance depots. The energy required is currently mostly produced by PV systems (sometimes in combination with battery storage). This leads to seasonal energy surpluses or shortages and is severely limited in terms of space if additional land sealing is to be minimized. At the same time, there are legally regulated open spaces such as compensation areas, mowing and wooded areas, green bridges, and water protection facilities, which have hardly been used for energy purposes to date. In the future, these could also be used intelligently for energy production, taking up as little space as possible.

What innovative and renewable energy -generating solutions can be used on and/or along existing ASFINAG infrastructure that generate as much energy as possible near large consumers with minimal space requirements?

We are looking for solutions that enable sustainable energy generation on or along existing infrastructure. The solutions should relate to open spaces or already sealed areas and cover ASFINAG's own power consumption – for example, for lighting, operational buildings, or charging infrastructure. In order to cover this own consumption as regionally as possible, the energy should be generated near large consumers such as tunnels or highway maintenance depots (ideally year-round).
Surplus feed-in to the public grid should be kept to a minimum; full feed-in is not desirable. Any surplus energy may be temporarily stored in storage solutions or fed into the grid, provided this is economically viable.

ASFINAG wants to break new ground and test solutions that go beyond traditional photovoltaics and wind energy. It is looking for novel, potentially disruptive concepts that can be integrated into existing operating procedures, do not require costly large-scale construction measures, and still make a measurable contribution to energy supply. The aim of the IÖB Challenge is to identify solutions and innovations that maximize energy yield and minimize soil sealing.

Please also consider aspects such as maintenance intensity, the needs of local residents, and traffic safety in your submission. When submitting your entry, please also note that, depending on the area of application, the solution must be compatible with existing safety systems (e.g., in tunnels).

Non-objectives:

• Use of fossil fuels
• Pure energy feed-in to existing grids
• Solutions that are not compatible with traffic safety (e.g., conventional wind turbines due to distance regulations)
• Solutions that produce only small amounts of energy (e.g., balcony PV)
• Solutions that are widely available on the market (e.g., conventional solar carports) and/or are already in use at ASFINAG (e.g., small wind turbines)
• Greenwashing solutions

Take advantage of this opportunity to present your innovative approaches. ASFINAG is looking for companies or cooperation partners that offer solutions for generating as much energy as possible while using as little space as possible. Companies should submit their applications via the online form by December 7, 2025.

Description
Focus primarily on how your solution would contribute to the desired result. Describe the overall approach of your solution and present its economic efficiency, traffic safety, and technical feasibility. In addition, submit performance indicators so that the energy yield per square meter of sealed area can be easily understood.

The focus of the description should match the evaluation criteria and the requirements described. Bonus points will be awarded for low-maintenance, resource-efficient, and scalable approaches. Please also provide transparent and comprehensible price indicators—these can be submitted to the jury as confidential information.

Convince them with comprehensible use cases, KPIs, and, if possible, even references. In addition, be sure to present the application of your product in the context of ASFINAG and ensure that your solution is tailored for operation in the context of a highway operator. Furthermore, address the maintenance intensity and explain who can perform the maintenance.

Summary of Added Value:
Highlight your unique selling proposition and key advantages! What makes your solution particularly innovative? What sets you apart?

Confidential information (for the jury only):
Use the technical information provided and indicate whether you can meet these requirements. Confidential information (for the jury only):
Give us an idea of what your proposal means in terms of costs and effort. This will help the sponsors to design the procurement project within the right framework at an early stage. Please describe this information with reference to the project.
In this text field, you can enter additional information that you would like to share exclusively with the project managers. Alternatively, you can send a PDF by email to the challenge moderators.

In addition, a cover image is required. This is your visual flagship in the overview of submissions for this challenge.

Optionally, you may also attach files or graphics that complement, but not duplicate or replace, the texts in the form fields!.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Submissions as a consortium are possible. Please be brief (guideline: maximum 10-12 presentation slides or 4-5 DIN A4 pages). This challenge is part of a market exploration. It is therefore not necessary to prepare specially developed drafts or feasibility studies for this occasion.

References:
If you already have a market-ready product, please include references or reference projects, including photos, with your submission.