The German Federal Government Plans To Restrict Privileges For Outdoor Energy Storage

 

The German federal government plans to restrict privileges for outdoor energy storage, exempting only projects with a capacity of 4 MW or more near substations.

 

According to the latest draft of Germany's Geothermal Acceleration Act, the scope of privileges for outdoor battery storage projects will be limited. These privileges will only apply to co-located energy storage projects spatially and functionally linked to renewable energy facilities, and to stand-alone energy storage projects with a capacity of 4 MW or more, located within 200 meters of a substation or a large power plant with a single unit capacity of at least 50 MW.

 

The state of Bavaria has warned that the new restrictions could lead to land use conflicts between substation expansions and battery storage projects. The state's Minister of Economic Affairs pointed out that federal policy lacks clear direction, and the new energy storage regulations should be balanced, well-considered, and aligned with economic and energy needs, avoiding creating new obstacles for projects.

 

The Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs plans to remove the grid connection procedures for large-scale battery storage projects with a capacity of 100 MW or more from the power plant grid connection regulations. This move is expected to eliminate the "Grey Dog" principle in grid connection and bring more order to the energy storage project connection process. The coalition caucus's proposal calls for the clarification of functional standards for privileged energy storage projects that meet the goals of promoting system network and energy storage capacity expansion.