Germany logged almost 10,000 grid requests for large batteries in 2024

A total of 9,710 requests for connecting battery storages to the power grid were made across Germany in 2024, the country’s Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has said. The figure includes connection requests for medium and high voltage level batteries with a combined power capacity of 400 gigawatts (GW) and a storage capacity of about 660 gigawatt hours (GWh), but excludes smaller private systems.

The 921 large-scale battery systems currently operating in Germany have a total power capacity of 2.3 GW and a storage capacity of 3.2 GWh, BNetzA added. Grid operators granted about 3,800 of the connection requests in 2024, representing 25 GW of power and 46 GWh of storage capacity. “Since the granted requests only obligate grid operators, this does not necessarily imply that all projects will be implemented,” the agency said.

The BNetzA’s 2024 data is the agency's first overview on battery storage requests. “The market for battery storage currently is in a dynamic development process,” the agency said. Large-scale batteries already help to use renewable energy more efficiently and stabilize the grid at times of little solar or wind power output, thus reducing the need for grid extensions and backup power plants.

But the systems could do much more to smooth Germany's energy transition, a recent analysis found. Lacking grid access is a major obstacle for Germany's energy transition technologies, several energy industry associations warned in early November. 

The grid storage boom is driven mainly by rapidly dropping battery prices and the possibility of using them for profiting from electricity price fluctuations. Germany's rapidly rising share of weather-dependent renewable energy makes the country a test bed for storage technologies.