Making sure big batteries are focused on helping the grid, not lining their owner’s profits
Sales of large-scale battery storage units are booming, but in Germany their role in advancing the energy transition appears to have been impeded by their increasing use for profit.
Storage systems help balance out fluctuations caused by weather-dependent wind and solar power generation. Batteries can bridge periods with little renewable electricity feed-in and relieve loads when too much energy is generated.
But they are increasingly seen as a lucrative business opportunity that allows owners to profit by buying and storing energy on days when renewable generation is high and prices low, and selling it when prices rise.
Battery storage systems that are based on electricity market prices therefore do not necessarily relieve the load on power grids.
In Germany, storage operators often end up exacerbating electricity shortages when they take advantage of low market prices caused by high renewable generation in other parts of the country, leading to grid imbalances.
In an effort to improve the effectiveness of batteries on the grid, German operator Amprion has launched a tender to find partners to build and operate five large batteries on its behalf.
These new large-scale batteries would be used to directly relieve the load on the grid at the right moment and still be profitable.
Current large- scale storage capacity in Germany reached an estimated 2.6 GWh in 2024 and is expected to more than double this year.
The surging interest in large-scale battery storage is also causing difficulties for grid operators as they face ever more connection requests.