Germany will lift restrictions on household energy storage systems that emit into the grid
The German government is currently working to complete amendments to the Energy Industry Law, allowing owners of household energy storage systems in the country to feed previously stored electricity into the national grid while charging from the grid using their battery storage systems. The Federal Cabinet has passed this 454 page amendment, and the current German Minister of Economic Affairs, Robert Habeck, hopes to pass it through parliament before the upcoming elections in Germany. Germany has installed approximately 1.6 million household energy storage systems with a total output power of 13 GW, but so far, their owners have only been limited to storing solar energy from connected photovoltaic rooftop systems and then releasing it for household use. However, due to legal limitations, this measure was not applied to capacity. The government hopes to lift restrictions on operators who have been penalized for grid electricity prices under the EEG plan. According to current laws, only green electricity is allowed to be stored in battery storage systems without endangering EEG rewards. For example, operators who want to enter the free market and participate in virtual power plants must take great risks to do so. In the future, private home storage systems should be able to be charged at a unified rate. Then, the electricity fed into the grid will receive a maximum reward of 300 kilowatt hours per kilowatt peak per calendar year. The unified rate method based on output makes it possible for a particularly simple measurement concept, "explained the amendment to the law. Bernhard Strohmayer, head of renewable energy at the German Association of New Energy Industries (bne), believes that this regulation is an important check on plans to reduce direct sales restrictions. The amendment to this law does not simply extend sales restrictions to smaller systems. It also simplifies the market itself, which is particularly interesting for producer consumer photovoltaics. Through these proposals, storage systems can be better utilized in the market. This will enable storage systems or bi-directional vehicles to generate additional revenue and integrate it into the market through adjusted producer consumer electricity contracts. "In principle, you no longer need energy flow meters," he added, but this proposal is almost unknown in the industry.