As announced, a workshop on the status of the grid fee reform took place on May 27, 2026, drawing significant attention from many energy market stakeholders. In addition to the restructuring of industrial grid fees and a potential financial contribution from power generators, the agenda included a follow-up regulation for Section 118(6) of the Energy Industry Act (EnWG)—the 20-year grid fee exemption for storage facilities. The discussion is part of the AgNes process, which the Federal Network Agency is developing as a successor to the current StromNEV following the European Court of Justice ruling on September 2, 2021.
During the presentation of the interim results, the Federal Network Agency demonstrated a strong awareness of the significance this reform project will have for the future energy system. The design of grid fees is of paramount importance for the economic viability of storage assets, which is why Kyon Energy followed this meeting with great interest.
A look at current market events shows how urgently flexibility is needed in the power system. For example, extreme price developments occurred in early May, with electricity prices dropping as low as -500 €/MWh. Such market situations could have been significantly mitigated with higher storage capacity in the system. Flexibility in energy markets is essential for the more efficient integration of renewable energy.
The Federal Network Agency also recognizes “their special function in the future power supply system as providers of flexibility in both consumption and generation. It acknowledges this through a separate grid fee, closely aligned with future generation grid fees.”
The current status of the AgNes reform is viewed positively overall. The Federal Network Agency is increasingly recognizing that battery storage plays a central role in an efficient and stable energy market.
This creates an important foundation: regulatory understanding of flexibility is growing. At the same time, it is becoming clear that the real impact now lies in the specific implementation. It is crucial that the framework conditions provide sufficient predictability and do not hinder the further expansion of storage.
A central element of the reform is the planned protection of legitimate expectations. Projects that go into operation by August 4, 2029, can demonstrate secured grid connection capacities by the time the final determination is published at the end of the year, and have already made substantial investments, are to remain exempt from grid fees.
This signal is of great importance, especially for projects currently under construction or in operation. It provides a degree of planning security during a phase in which significant financial commitments have already been made.
Projects that do not meet the above criteria will be transitioned into a future grid fee regime: storage facilities will be required to make a financial contribution to grid fees and will be treated similarly to power generators.
The focus is on introducing a capacity price, which is expected to be in the range of 4 to 7 EUR/kW per year. The basis for this calculation is the grid connection capacity.
Furthermore, the Federal Network Agency is continuing to push for the need for local signals. Dynamic grid fees with an incentive function for so-called grid-oriented grid usage are to be introduced gradually: they are a "an integral part of the considerations for the new tariff system". However, the dynamic components for storage cannot be introduced immediately. The regulator considers a phased introduction based on grid levels starting in 2030 to be realistic. This approach aligns with Kyon Energy's core philosophy of more closely integrating market and grid-serving signals.
The impact of the reform varies significantly depending on the project status. For projects that are already well advanced, there is a clear incentive to consistently align their schedules for commissioning by August 2029. For projects in earlier stages of development or those with greater uncertainties, the message is still generally positive. As things stand, the projected capacity price in the range of €4 to €7/kW appears compatible with the continued market-driven expansion of battery storage. Analyses by Aurora Energy Research also indicate that significantly higher capacity prices would be required to substantially impair the economic viability of new storage projects.
Kyon Energy believes that further clarification of the relevant Final Investment Decision (FID) cut-off date is essential to ensure a clear, practical, and legally certain application of the grandfathering provisions proposed in the AgNes process.
"FID" (according to the criteria proposed by the Federal Network Agency) is a particularly sensitive criterion, as investment decisions and the ordering of components can generally only be made after extensive technical, economic, and contractual reviews. In many cases, the time remaining until the end of the year is insufficient for this, meaning that fundamentally suitable projects risk not benefiting from the protection of legitimate expectations, even though significant preliminary work has already been carried out.
The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the discussion regarding a potential retroactive change to the regulations at the beginning of the year has caused significant uncertainty. Numerous financing and contracting processes were paused and must now be resumed under significantly increased time pressure. Therefore, one cannot speak of complete investment protection.
To prevent further damage and establish planning certainty, it is necessary for the Federal Network Agency to communicate the earliest possible date for the publication of the final determination. This is crucial, on the one hand, to strengthen the industry's confidence in regulatory stability and, on the other, to enable grid connection users to prioritize their pipelines clearly.
The signal from the AgNes interim report is perceived as positive. However, the regulatory content, partly due to the lack of immediate implementation of dynamic grid charges, leaves a major pain point of large-scale storage integration unaddressed: How can the market system and grid requirements be synchronized as cost-effectively as possible?
This challenge is being addressed by storage and grid operators using many different approaches. As a first step, this is appropriate, as operational restrictions should always reflect local technical requirements. At the same time, clear guardrails are needed to enable the interests of all stakeholders to be weighed against each other, thereby finding an optimum for the system as a whole.
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