Germany’s large-scale battery storage could witness 500% growth with 7 GWh of facilities

Germany’s large-scale battery storage could increase by 500% within 2 years, according to the country’s Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar).
The expected increase of five-fold is based on a recent market analysis carried out by the consulting firm Enervis.

Around seven gigawatt hours of new storage capacity will be added to the 1.8 gigawatt hours (GWh) capacity installed so far in large storage facilities (greater than 1 megawatt of connected capacity) by 2026, according to market analysis.

In addition to the more than 1.5 million home and commercial storage systems already installed, large battery storage systems will play an increasingly important role in the integration of photovoltaics into the electricity system, according to BSW-Solar.

Expansion driven by increasing dynamics of the electricity market

The expansion of large storage systems is primarily driven by the increasing dynamics of the electricity market and the price difference between low and higher electricity prices on the stock exchange. According to BSW-Solar, this business model makes it possible for the storage systems to shift cheap solar power from times of high production to times of high electricity demand without additional subsidies.

“The price-reducing feed-in of ever more solar power output makes the increasingly cheaper storage of electricity an interesting business model. The addition of large battery storage facilities will help to better integrate the rapid expansion of photovoltaic power into the electricity system,” explained Carsten Körnig, General Manager of the German Solar Industry Association.

More than 80 percent of smaller photovoltaic roof systems are already installed in combination with battery storage , according to BSW. A total of 1.51 million home storage systems with a capacity of 13 GWh had already been installed by the end of the first half of 2024. In addition, there was 1.1 GWh of commercial battery storage capacity and 1.8 GWh of large-scale storage capacity. In total, almost 16 GWh of storage capacity had been installed by the end of the first half of 2024, according to a press release .

Considerable potential in large-scale storage that needs to be exploited

Körnig maintained that in addition to home and commercial storage, there is still considerable potential in large-scale storage that needs to be exploited. Large-scale battery storage should be expanded more quickly as an ideal systemic complement to solar and wind energy in order to make the supply more consistent and more reliable.

This will make it easier to harmonize the generation and consumption of electricity and avoid peaks in generation that put a strain on the grid. The aim must be to make sensible use of peaks in generation from solar and wind power plants with flexible consumers, battery storage and electrolyzers, instead of simply regulating the systems , according to Körnig.