Germany’s battery storage fleet surges to 19 GWh

The number and cumulative capacity of storage systems installed in Germany have grown by 50% over the past year. Almost 600,000 new battery storage systems have been put into operation in various market segments.

At the turn of the year, more than 1.8 million storage systems with a capacity of around 19 GWh were installed in Germany, as the German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar) announced on Friday based on data from the market master data register.

However, the data also shows that the number of newly installed residential storage systems fell slightly last year compared to 2023. Around 580,000 new systems were added in this segment, compared to 594,000 in 2023. By the end of the year, there were around 1.8 million installed battery storage systems in connection with private photovoltaic rooftop systems. The total installed capacity of home storage systems grew to around 15.4 GWh within a year.

In contrast, the commercial and large-scale storage segments recorded growth. In 2024, twice as much capacity with battery storage systems with an output of more than 1 MW was installed than in 2023. BSW-Solar assumes that the rate of expansion of large-scale storage systems will accelerate significantly. The association had published a forecast according to which the installed capacity in this segment could increase fivefold in the next two years.

As the transmission and some distribution network operators told pv magazine, there were around 340 GW of grid-connection requests from large-scale storage systems at the turn of the year. The nation-wide pipeline could be even bigger. However, it is clear that not all of these projects will be implemented, and certainly not within two years.

Last year, around 100 new storage systems with around 800 MWh of capacity were added in the large-scale segment. The total installed capacity for storage facilities with an output of more than 1 MW thus rose to just under 2.3 GWh.

In the area of ​​commercial storage, BSW-Solar recorded an increase of 26% in terms of installed capacity last year. The total number of commercial storage systems installed in Germany rose by more than 60% to now over 38,000 with a total storage capacity of almost 1.4 GWh.

The association underlines that these are preliminary data. As with PV systems, some storage systems are registered at a later stage. At the time of the evaluation on January 23, 2024, around 11% of home storage systems, 19% of commercial storage systems and 7% of large-scale storage systems were not recorded in the register. BSW-Solar has taken this into account in its projections.

On Friday, the Bundestag is likely to pass a law that will allow storage systems to be used more flexibly in the future. In future, they will be allowed to temporarily store power from the grid so that they can be operated in a way that is more beneficial to the electricity system.

“This is made possible by the flat-rate option for home storage systems and the demarcation option for larger storage systems. Both options serve to distinguish eligible solar power quantities in the storage system from non-eligible grey electricity from the grid,” says BSW-Solar.

In future, home storage systems could be used for electricity trading and system services in addition to self-consumption. The prerequisite for practical application is a determination by the Federal Network Agency that has yet to be formulated, and the systems must be operated in direct energy tranding, the association adds.