Large-scale battery projects with a combined capacity of 226 GW aspire to be connected to Germany’s transmission grid, increasing speculation that the country’s electricity system could be facing a ‘battery tsunami’, reports pv magazine.
TSOs had received 650 connection requests for large battery storage systems by the start of January, but many of these are at an early planning stage, complicating predictions about how many will be realised, according to the pv article. The latest figures represent an increase of around 40 % from a time three months ago when requests totalled only 161 GW.
The grid storage boom is driven mainly by rapidly dropping battery prices and the possibility of using them for profiting from electricity price fluctuations. The implications for Germany’s electrical system could be huge: even if only half the projects are realised, the storage capacity could supply more than 30 million households for a day.
Germany’s large and rising share of renewable energy makes the country a natural test area for storage technologies. 262 battery storage systems with a capacity exceeding 1 MW, a total capacity of around 1.75 GW were in operation in Germany at the start of the year. Applications for future projects therefore exceed systems currently operating by a factor of around 130. The official register only lists 287 large-scale storage projects, with almost 2.4 GW, as being in the planning phase.
Most of the applications state that project commissioning for the storage facilities is planned to take place before 2030, with some even as early as 2025, according to operators. But it is possible that the total figure is distorted by double counting as some developers have handed in requests for several locations for an identically designed project in order to improve the odds of securing permission, which is granted on a first come, first served basis.
Total large-scale battery applications in Germany may exceed 226 GW, as DSOs are also registering hundreds of connection requests for large battery storage systems.
