{"id":335089,"date":"2026-02-16T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/?p=335089"},"modified":"2026-02-09T16:41:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T20:41:59","slug":"grid-germany-to-apply-new-model-to-connect-energy-projects","status":"publish","type":"noticias","link":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/news\/grid-germany-to-apply-new-model-to-connect-energy-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"Grid Germany to apply new model to connect energy projects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>From April 2026, the German power grid will adopt a new procedure for managing connection requests, putting an end to the chronological model and prioritizing mature and viable projects.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What changes with the new procedure?<\/h2>\n\n<p>Germany&#8217;s four transmission system operators (TTOs), <strong>50Hertz, Amprion, TenneT Germany and TransnetBW<\/strong>, will introduce the <strong>&#8220;maturity assessment procedure&#8221;<\/strong> for processing applications for connection to the <strong>extra-high-voltage<\/strong> grid. This measure aims to make access to the grid more efficient and predictable, in the face of the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/news\/artificial-intelligence-is-driving-a-new-energy-battle-in-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">growing demand for connection<\/a><\/strong> by energy-intensive industrial sectors. <\/p>\n\n<p>The change will come into effect <strong>on April 1, 2026<\/strong>, starting with an initial information and application phase. From then on, the &#8220;first come, first served&#8221; principle will be left behind. <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Objective criteria for ranking applications<\/h2>\n\n<p>Under the new scheme, applications will be collected in <strong>fixed cycles<\/strong> and evaluated according to their <strong>level of maturity<\/strong>, based on clearly verifiable criteria such as:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Availability and acquisition of land<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Administrative permit status<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Soundness of the technical concept of the project<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Financial capacity of the applicant<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Contribution to the power system and grid stability<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>This method will allow <strong>prioritization of high quality and feasible projects<\/strong> in the event that available capacity is less than demand.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who is impacted by this measure?<\/h2>\n\n<p>The measure is aimed especially at actors such as:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Battery storage systems<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/news\/williams-natural-gas-ai-data-centers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Data centers<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Electrolyzers<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Large-scale industrial consumers<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>According to the STOs, <strong>717 applications for grid connection<\/strong> had been submitted <strong>in Germany<\/strong> by the third quarter of 2025, totaling 270 GW of capacity. Of these, <strong>545 applications were for storage systems<\/strong>, totaling 211 GW. These numbers are evidence of the increasing pressure on the national electricity infrastructure.  <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A saturated network needs order and strategy<\/h2>\n\n<p>Even if the new procedure is implemented, operators recognize that <strong>demand for connection will continue to exceed available capacity<\/strong>. They have therefore asked the <strong>Federal<\/strong> Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) to officially confirm the procedure and to move towards a <strong>legal framework that defines technology-specific quotas<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n<p>These quotas would allow for more strategic management of the integration of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/news\/iberdrola-strengthens-electrification-in-new-south-wales-with-storage-systems\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">energy storage<\/a><\/strong>The integration of energy storage, data centers, green hydrogen, heavy industry and new power plants, aligning priorities with the real needs of the system.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Germany aligns with international models<\/h2>\n\n<p>This evaluation model has already been successfully implemented in countries such as the <strong>United Kingdom and Norway<\/strong>, where it has improved efficiency in connection management and reduced administrative bottlenecks. With this update, <strong>the German grid is seeking to strengthen its role as a pillar of the European energy transition<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n<p>This change marks a decisive step towards modernizing access to the <strong>German electricity grid<\/strong>, focusing on the technical and strategic viability of projects. In a context of accelerated electrification and growing energy demand, orderly planning based on maturity criteria will be key to avoiding gridlock and moving towards a robust and sustainable energy system. <\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.50hertz.com\/en\/News\/FullarticleNewsof50Hertz\/16740\/transmission-system-operators-introduce-a-maturity-assessment-procedure-for-grid-connection-applications-from-storage-facilities-and-large-consumers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">50hertz<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Photo: Shutterstock<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Network operators will prioritize the most advanced projects, abandoning the old first-come, first-served system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10019,"featured_media":335074,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categoria_noticias":[13026,13044],"etiqueta_noticias":[],"class_list":["post-335089","noticias","type-noticias","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categoria_noticias-energy","categoria_noticias-new-energies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias\/335089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/noticias"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias\/335089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"categoria_noticias","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categoria_noticias?post=335089"},{"taxonomy":"etiqueta_noticias","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/etiqueta_noticias?post=335089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}