Going deep in the Austrian market
Published on 22 January 2025
In late 2023, SPIE set up a country organisation in Austria, and one of the new entity’s most important customers is Asfinag, a publically-owned corporation responsible for planning, building, and operating Austria’s motorway network.
René List, Head of Electromechanical Infrastructure at Asfinag Bau Management GmbH talks about working with SPIE.
Our central position in Europe makes our motorway network an asset of key strategic importance, and one which requires sustained upkeep. Due to our geography, we also have a large number of tunnels which are sensitive to traffic loads and must conform to strict safety standards. As such, there is ongoing investment of up to €300 million annually during the coming years in installing and upgrading technical equipment on the Austrian highways and safety systems such as sensors, ventilation, and lighting for tunnels.
In recent years, SPIE has acquired several of our long-standing partners in tunnel safety projects, such as Christof Electrics in 2019 and K.E.M. Montage and DÜRR Group in 2021. What this means for us is that existing partnerships are being taken to a new level. By grouping smaller companies, SPIE is able to take on a leading role in financing, organising, and delivering large-scale projects. Here, SPIE now has the size and capacity to act as a full-service partner for projects as they do at the Lainberg and Ottsdorf tunnels on the A9, and the new S7 expressway
Beyond this, we are also delighted to be working with SPIE companies on a range of innovative projects, notably the plan to operate the Vienna S1 expressway ring-road entirely using renewable energy. After commissioning 4 MWp of photovoltaic and 5 MWh of battery storage will run all lighting, traffic management, and tunnel systems. SPIE also installed photovoltaic and battery systems at our new flagship Roggendorf rest area on the A1 and helped us deliver high power charger facilities for battery-electric passenger cars as well as fast and overnight charging facilities for heavy goods vehicles.
“ By grouping smaller companies, SPIE is able to take on a leading role in financing, organising, and delivering large-scale projects. Here, SPIE now has the size and capacity to act as a full-service partner.”