German home battery sales collapse but larger systems on the rise

The BVES has noted a marked decline in battery sales in 2024, with the €12.5 billion ($13.5 billion) total down 23% on 2023.

Sales of home battery energy storage systems (BESS) fell 40%, from €11.1 billion, in 2023, to €6.7 billion with BVES Managing Director Urban Windelen citing a decline in the installation of heat pumps and wall boxes.

Falling energy prices, uncertainty over regulation such as the Building Energy Act, and a weakening construction industry are also factors, according to the trade body, with heat storage sales falling from €7.3 billion to €4 billion last year. Electricity storage system sales were down from €3.8 billion to €2.8 billion, year on year.

The BVES says Germany now has 1.7 million home energy storage systems, with a total capacity of 9.5 GW/15 GWh.

“We also came out of a record year [in 2023], and a record year also means slightly lower sales the following year,” said Windelen, suggesting the 2024 figures marked market consolidation rather than a crisis.

C&I growth

Sales of C&I energy storage systems, by contrast, grew 23%, year on year, from €1.3 billion to €1.6 billion, as companies chased electricity cost savings rather than the previous desire to burnish their environmental credentials. The use of energy storage in car and truck charging facilities saw a notable uptick, thanks to improved energy and cost efficiency potential, as well as new business models.

“The industrial transformation is finally gaining momentum,” said Windelen.

Utility-scale

Revenue from German large-scale energy storage jumped 14% year on year, from €2.8 billion to €3.2 billion, offering what the BVES described as “the most important signal” the market is beginning to take off.

With focus shifting from BESS power to storage capacity, four- and eight-hour systems are taking shape and redox flow and zinc bromide batteries are also gaining a foothold.

Grid capacity and regulation remain constraints, however, according to the BVES, with Windelen complaining grid operators failed for years to anticipate the rise in BESS connection requests. Disputing the idea there are too many BESS grid applications, executive Windelen said he expects 2.5 GW of BESS will be added annually.

Consolidation

The BVES has noted a “clearly visible” loss of market share for domestic battery manufacturers as energy storage is increasingly traded as a price-sensitive commodity. The association said German and wider European products could differentiate themselves from cheaper Chinese batteries, especially by featuring better software such as battery and energy management systems.

The association said it expects German battery revenue to rebound to €14.2 billion this year, helped by regulatory adjustments such as those resulting from the nation’s Solar Peak Energy Act.

Policy

“We have good regulations on paper but, in practice, bureaucracy is massively slowing down implementation,” said Windelen at a press conference held to publicize the organization’s figures. The BVES managing director said important regulatory projects remain “on hold.”

German utilities regulator the Federal Network Agency, in particular, is increasingly assuming the role of a rule-setter and legislator – and that is a development Windelen described as “difficult.” “To ensure the flexibility and stability of the energy system, we need a clear and reliable legal framework, investment security, and a reduction in bureaucratic hurdles – especially in approval and building law,” he said.

From pv magazine Deutschland.