Regional cost differences in the millions due to German "Baukostenzuschuss"

What parallels exist between the work of project developers and the German fragmentation of the 17th century? For those interested in old maps, it's known that Germany consisted of more than 300 kingdoms at that time. Although electricity didn't exist back then, today's power grid is similarly divided. According to the German "Marktstammdatenregister", there are 892 different grid operators. Unfortunately, this fragmentation isn't ideal for developers of renewable energy projects. They must navigate through various processes for grid connection applications. For storage projects, this division is even crucial for site selection as they must pay a construction fee (Baukostenzuschuss, BKZ), which varies depending on the grid operator. For example, for a 100 MW energy storage facility, Westfalen Weser Netz GmbH charges €174.08/kW (net), while the neighboring Westnetz GmbH charges "only" €53/kW. This creates a cost difference of more than €12 million for the project.

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Regardless of whether one is seeking areas with low BKZ, expects the BKZ to be abolished soon, or simply wants clarity on which grid operator to apply to for connection, dvlp.energy helps project developers keep track. Our user-friendly web-GIS platform always provides up-to-date information on:

• which grid operator is responsible for which area
• what the respective BKZ is

After all, the fragmentation of the 17th century not only led to bureaucracy and customs chaos but was also a time of cultural flourishing and fertile economic competition, according to historical experts. If that isn't an argument for German grid operators to create a cost-efficient, stable backbone for our energy transition, then what is?

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But why do energy storage facilities have to pay BKZ anyway?

• The BKZ is a one-time payment for expanding the general grid, which a newly connected end consumer must pay to the grid operator
• Storage facilities are defined as "facilities that consume electrical energy for the purpose of ... intermediate storage" according to § 3 number 15d of the Energy Industry Act (EnWG). This qualifies them to be defined as "end consumers" which need to pay grid-fees. However, § 118 number 6 of the EnWG provides a transitional regulation stating that "newly constructed facilities for the storage of electrical energy ... are exempt from the grid-fees for network access with regard to the electricity to be stored." This exemption applies until 2029
• In practice, grid operators only apply this exemption to the network usage fees that accrue annually or per consumed amount of energy and not to the one-time BKZ.
• After a developer filed a lawsuit, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf ruled on December 20, 2023, that charging BKZ for battery storage is inadmissible if the same BKZ is charged as for an end consumer
• However, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has lodged an appeal against the decision with the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), and a decision from Karlsruhe is not expected before 2025

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Currently, there is significant legal uncertainty about how to handle BKZ in practice.