E.ON to roll out flexible battery grid connection agreements across Germany
Germany’s E.ON said it will roll out standardized flexible connection agreements (FCAs) for battery energy storage systems (BESS) across its German distribution grids by the end of the year, following what it described as a successful pilot project with storage developer Eco Stor in the northern municipality of Bollingstedt, Schleswig-Holstein.
The model is designed to accelerate grid connections for battery projects while maintaining investment certainty, reducing system costs and supporting grid stability.
Under the FCA approach, battery operation is aligned more closely with real-time grid conditions and renewable generation levels. During periods of network congestion, charging and discharging capacity can be temporarily limited, while batteries can make greater use of available capacity when grid demand is lower. E.ON said the approach could enable projects to connect at sites that would otherwise require network upgrades before gaining access.
The utility plans to extend the model across all of its distribution system operators, which together cover about 65% of Germany’s land area. E.ON said its grid companies have already issued connection commitments for around 25 GW of battery storage capacity and have received requests for more than 500 GW of additional projects.
The company also intends to expand the use of FCAs to other applications, including co-located battery and renewable energy projects, biogas facilities and hybrid renewable installations. It stressed that flexible connection agreements are intended to complement, rather than replace, conventional grid expansion.
Eco Stor Managing Director Georg Gallmetzer – who also serves on the board of Bundesverband Energiespeicher Systeme e.V.. (BVES), a key industry group – said the pilot demonstrated how batteries can help optimize the use of existing grid infrastructure while creating additional connection opportunities. He said standardized agreements could provide greater certainty for investors and support both renewable integration and storage deployment.
BVES welcomed the broader use of flexible connection agreements but cautioned against implementing a nationwide framework without sufficient engagement with the storage industry.
The association said E.ON had involved industry participants during the early stages of developing the standardized FCA model but had not maintained that dialogue throughout the process before announcing the national rollout.
BVES managing director Urban Windelen said flexible connection agreements could help accelerate battery deployment and address grid bottlenecks pragmatically, but argued that their design must remain economically viable, technically transparent and proportionate.
According to the association, conditions disclosed from the pilot project suggest that some of the proposed operating restrictions may not be commercially or operationally sustainable for many storage developers. BVES also warned that FCAs should not become a substitute for investments in grid digitalization, transparency and modern network management.
The association said full grid connections should remain the default option for battery projects. Rather than adopting a rigid nationwide contract, BVES called for a criteria-based framework that could be tailored to local network conditions, applying only those restrictions that are genuinely necessary. It also argued that developers providing grid-support services through FCAs should receive corresponding reductions in grid connection charges.
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