Germany’s solar industry calls for 100 GWh 2030 grid battery target
Clean Energy Wire / Handelsblatt
Germany’s solar industry has called on the government to speed up the deployment of stationary batteries and harness their “massive potential as an efficiency booster for the energy transition.” But grid operators warn that the rapid rise of grid storage could clog connection capacities, delaying other users such as data centres or back-up power plants.
The government should set a legally binding target of installing at least 100 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of storage capacity by 2030, said industry association BSW-Solar. The group estimated that 2.2 million stationary battery storage systems with a total capacity of around 23 gigawatt-hours were operating in Germany at the end of July 2025.
"Battery storage systems offer a wide range of advantages: they reduce the need for reserve power plants and the scope of grid expansion, minimise curtailments of solar and wind power plants and their subsidy requirements, stabilise wholesale electricity prices and make a decisive contribution to bridging 'dunkelflaute' (dark doldrums) periods,” said BSW director Carsten Körnig.
However, grid operators have warned that the boom in large storage projects is causing problems for other users and called for an overhaul of grid connection rules, business daily Handelsblatt reported. “A new allocation procedure for connections to the extra-high voltage grid should focus on project maturity and grid compatibility,” transmission grid operator 50Hertz told the newspaper.
The company added that applicants should also provide additional information such as permit progress, detailed plant and connection concepts, and creditworthiness, which should have an “influence on the award priorities”.
By the end of July, Germany’s four transmission grid operators had received 681 applications for grid storage projects, and they said connection requests were continuing to rise sharply. But many project applications are on shaky ground because they lack concrete plans, solid financing, or a building site, according to the article.
“We are obliged to process applications in the order in which they are received. This means that we also have to deal with zombie applications” that are designed to be sold on to serious investors in case of success, an unnamed source at a network operator told Handelsblatt.
