​Germany's grid connection system had become unmanageable. By September 2025, the country's four TSOs had accumulated 211 GW of battery storage connection requests - five times the 41 GW the official grid development plan anticipated for 2037. Over 50 GW had already been reserved under first-come, first-served rules, filling up nearly all remaining capacity until the end of the decade.

In February, the TSOs announced they will replace that system with the Reifegradverfahren, Germany's new maturity-based grid connection procedure. The new process assesses storage, load, and hybrid projects in tender-like cycles, in which the TSOs announce available capacity and grade applications based on their likelihood of connecting.

On 1 April, applications opened, and the TSOs published their availabilities. Of 426 transmission nodes, 39 accept BESS, all of which have targeted operations dates after 2030. This article covers the 39 eligible nodes, how the scoring works, and what to consider before applications close on 30 June.

​For any further information on this topic, reach out to the author - till@modoenergy.com

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