France's battery fleet reached 1.5 GW at the end of 2025. The French PPE3 energy roadmap, presented in early February, offers a more stable outlook for nuclear and renewables. This increased stability gives battery developers a clearer horizon for investment and planning.

Here are five factors that will shape battery revenues this year.

1. French aFRR capacity revenues are declining as the market shows signs of saturation

Since France opened its aFRR capacity market to batteries in 2024, capacity fees have been the main revenue source for most of the fleet.

Average upward aFRR capacity prices fell 55% between January 2025 and January 2026.

RTE's aFRR requirement has remained steady at 750 MW in each direction. With more capacity now competing for the same requirement, prices are falling.

2. Cross-market optimisation is becoming essential

Batteries are already active in aFRR capacity and energy markets, but these are not the only available revenue streams.

Most balancing energy is provided through the manually activated tertiary reserve (mFRR). French TSO RTE procures 1,000 MW of upward capacity, more than any other country in central western Europe.

For batteries, value comes from price spikes following system stress events. On February 10, an unplanned shutdown at the Penly nuclear plant sent prices up to €1,645/MWh.

France is expected to join MARI in 2026, pooling mFRR activation across borders as PICASSO did for aFRR energy.

The Intraday market is also deepening. France still trades far less than Germany, mainly because EDF has historically rebalanced most of its portfolio internally.

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As new market participants enter and the generation mix becomes more diverse, intraday liquidity will keep growing.