The German Energy Storage Association Calls For Revisions To The Energy Economy Act

 

The German Energy Storage Association calls for revisions to the Energy Economy Act, addressing three key mechanisms to prevent a storage gap and promote €200 billion in investment.

 

The German Federal Energy Storage System Association recently called for improvements to the proposed Energy Economy Act at an expert hearing of the Bundestag's Economic Committee. The association emphasized that while the current bill includes improved provisions for battery energy storage, it still lacks three key elements to ensure investment feasibility and accelerate grid connection.

 

Urban Winderen, the association's national executive director, noted that Germany faces a storage gap, with many projects stalled not due to a lack of funding but rather due to a lack of grid connection procedures, lengthy approval processes, and inconsistent regulatory standards. Furthermore, competition among grid connection applicants has led to stagnant investment in energy storage and delayed energy transition efforts. The association predicts that the industry plans to invest over €200 billion in energy storage over the next 10 years to ensure system stability, without relying on subsidies or grants.

 

The association advocates for the addition of three key clauses to the amendment: first, a modern grid access procedure should be established to improve transparency and reliability through binding operator deadlines, a digital central access platform and a capacity reservation mechanism; second, a national unified preferential treatment provision should be added to Article 35 of the Building Regulations to make the "priority public interest" clause practical; finally, the legal interpretation of Article 118, Paragraph 6 of the Energy Economy Law must be clarified to ensure that the energy storage systems supporting renewable energy power generation facilities can legally realize the storage and market application of electricity, thereby building system flexibility from the source, effectively reducing power rationing and improving market efficiency.