BVES wel­co­mes exten­ded grid fees exemp­tion for energy sto­rage and calls for long-term legis­la­tive cer­tainty

Pro­jects that are com­mis­sio­ned by 2029 will con­ti­nue to be exempt from grid fees. This is an urgen­tly nee­ded mea­sure that gives exis­ting and plan­ned sto­rage pro­jects more invest­ment secu­rity, at least in terms of the impen­ding grid fee bur­den.

“The exten­sion is a step in the right direc­tion and is much nee­ded to enable pro­fi­ta­ble sto­rage ope­ra­ti­ons even after 2026. Howe­ver, the recent time switch to 2029 is ulti­m­ately just a small turn of the sto­rage clock from “5 to 12” to “quar­ter to 12”,” explains Urban Win­delen, Mana­ging Direc­tor of BVES.

“In any case, this is no time to sit back and relax. We must find a fun­da­men­tal solu­tion to the grid fee pro­blem for energy sto­rage sys­tems. With the exis­ting pro­ject lead times, the three years we have now gai­ned will soon be over and will not be enough for long-term sto­rage pro­jects such as pum­ped sto­rage,” adds Win­delen.

The Fede­ral Net­work Agency (BNetzA) sta­tes the neces­sity of over 23 GW of bat­tery sto­rage in the grid deve­lo­p­ment plan in order to meet the requi­re­ments of the energy tran­si­tion. The post­po­ne­ment of the dead­line is not suf­fi­ci­ent to build these sys­tems. Bes­i­des the grid fee issues, other topics such as con­s­truc­tion cost sub­si­dies, appr­oval pro­ce­du­res, the exclu­si­vity prin­ci­ple, and pri­vi­le­ged grid access for energy sto­rage sys­tems remain unre­sol­ved and pose fur­ther obs­ta­cles to the expan­sion of the neces­sary energy sto­rage sys­tems.

Respite for the sto­rage sec­tor, but not a las­ting solu­tion

The post­po­ne­ment of the grid fee pro­blem gives poli­ti­ci­ans and the Fede­ral Grid Agency some lee­way, and the sto­rage sec­tor can briefly brea­the a sigh of relief. Howe­ver, this respite must not be was­ted. The BVES is cal­ling for sys­te­ma­ti­zed, relia­ble legal and invest­ment regu­la­ti­ons to finally enable the much-nee­ded expan­sion of fle­xi­bi­lity in the energy sto­rage sec­tor. The tech­no­lo­gies are alre­ady there and can be ups­ca­led quickly. A robust legal frame­work is still miss­ing.

“Now it is cru­cial to tackle the pro­blems las­tingly and con­sis­t­ently and not to push them to the back bur­ner,” con­tin­ued Win­delen. “The issue is too vital for the suc­cess of the energy tran­si­tion, cli­mate pro­tec­tion, and the sta­bi­lity and cost effi­ci­ency of our energy sys­tem to con­ti­nue to post­pone it for long.”

As an indus­try asso­cia­tion, the BVES is stan­ding by with its exper­tise in tech­no­logy and regu­la­tion for the urgent dia­log with the govern­ment, Bun­des­tag, and aut­ho­ri­ties to deve­lop a sys­te­ma­tic sto­rage stra­tegy.