New rules for allocation of the scarce resource “grid connection capacity”

In February 2026, the German transmission system operators (TSOs) published their policy for the maturity-based procedure (in German Reifegradverfahren) for grid connections to the transmission network. In doing so, the TSOs have addressed the problem of increased grid connection requests that significantly exceed planning assumptions in the current scenario framework of the grid development plan. On 1 April 2026, the maturity-based procedure for grid connection applications from energy storage facilities and large-scale consumers was introduced by the TSOs, thereby replacing the first come, first served principle (Netztransparenz > About us > Latest news > Details). Distribution system operators are now also considering applying the policy of a maturity-based procedure for grid connection requests in their distribution networks. The maturity-based procedure is intended to meet both the requirements of the energy transition and the obligations under section 17 of the German Energy Industry Act (Gesetz über die Elektrizitäts- und Gasversorgung). Apart from this, the latest draft legislation on the grid connection package provides for far-reaching amendments to section 17 and following of the Energy Industry Act.

Current situation: increased grid connection requests and the first come, first served principle

In addition to accelerated expansion of renewable energies as well as construction of electrolysers and data centres, which will significantly increase the demand for electricity in the future, the growing integration of energy storage systems is leading to a marked rise in grid connection requests to grid operators. For TSOs, the total capacity requested in such requests has even significantly exceeded the planning assumptions of the current scenario framework of the 2037/2045 grid development plan. Besides this, the widely applied first-come, first-served principle has led project developers to submit grid connection requests at very early stages of development – often even before there were any concrete prospects of implementation. This is one of the reasons why secondary markets for grid connection reservations have emerged on which plots of land with requested or secured grid connection capacity are traded or strategically held back by connection applicants.

Background

Under section 17(1) of the Energy Industry Act, the legal framework for grid connection obliges grid operators to allow connections to their grid in a manner that is in particular reasonable, non-discriminatory and transparent. Under section 17(2), a refusal to grant a grid connection is only permitted if operators can demonstrate that granting the connection is not possible or not reasonable for operational, economic or technical reasons, taking into account the public interest in security of supply. For grid connections for power plants with a capacity of 100 megawatts (MW) or more to electricity supply grids with a voltage of at least 110 kilovolts (kV), section 4 of the Power Plant Grid Connection Ordinance (Verordnung zur Regelung des Netzanschlusses von Anlagen zur Erzeugung von elektrischer Energie) (“Connection Ordinance”) stipulates that requests for connection received by a grid operator earlier in time must be prioritised when granting a commitment to provide a connection, known as the “first come, first served” principle. Until the legislative amendment in December 2025 (see our Insight: Battery storage, energy sharing, customer installations and grid operators – what changes are envisaged by the amendment to energy industry law), which made clear that energy storage facilities are not covered by the scope of the Connection Ordinance, grid connection requests for energy storage facilities were also frequently processed based on the first come, first served principle due to legal uncertainty.

In its ten-point paper “Becoming climate-neutral – remaining competitive” from September 2025 (available in German: Klimaneutral werden – wettbewerbsfähig bleiben | BMWE), the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy emphasises that further developing the instruments for regional management of the expansion of renewable energy plants and energy storage facilities will accelerate the connection of these plants, increase usable feed-in and optimise grid expansion in line with demand. Digital queue management systems for bundling connection requests, grid traffic lights, connection pooling, capacity-based grid tariffs and regionally differentiated contributions towards construction costs are also cited as incentives for efficient use of existing grid capacity.

To date, neither the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy nor the legislature has provided detailed guidelines on how grid operators are to ensure fair, non-discriminatory and transparent grid access in accordance with section 17 of the Energy Industry Act despite the sharp rise in grid connection requests and the simultaneous scarcity of grid connection capacity. However, a draft bill on the grid connection package is now available, containing far-reaching amendments to section 17 and following of the Act.

Structure of the maturity-based procedure

The maturity-based procedure for consumption, storage and hybrid plants developed by the TSOs is based on three principles. According to these, all applications are to be processed on a cyclical basis. For the current cycle, application documents must be submitted by 30 June 2026. Applications must meet minimum requirements, and a flat-rate application fee and a realisation deposit will be charged by the TSOs. Finally, grid connections will be allocated on the basis of maturity criteria, with projects ready for implementation being given priority.

Grid connection applications are only exempt from this procedure if they concern an adjustment to already agreed grid connection capacity, the previous grid usage behaviour does not fundamentally change, no construction measures are required by the TSO and an individual technical assessment shows that there are no grid-related bottlenecks. As far as is known, the TSOs take the view that ongoing grid connection requests must be resubmitted in accordance with the rules of the maturity-based procedure by 30 June 2026 in order to be considered for allocation of available grid connection capacity in the current first cycle.

The maturity-based procedure is divided into three phases:

• Information and application phase (three months), during which transparency regarding the grid situation is provided on the TSOs’ website, informal and non-binding grid connection enquiries are processed, and the application must be submitted together with a flat-rate application fee of €50,000.00 payable to the TSOs;
• Cluster study with maturity-based prioritisation (five months), during which the admissibility of grid connection applications is assessed, maturity is evaluated, prioritisation carried is out, capacity is allocated and grid calculations are performed;
• Offer phase (two months), during which in the event of a positive response the grid connection applicants may accept the offer within one month by paying a realisation deposit of €1,500.00 per MW of grid connection capacity.

Accepting the offer concludes the maturity-based procedure and is followed by the pre-project phase, comprising preliminary design and negotiations on a connection construction contract and/or grid connection contract. Should a grid connection applicant fail to agree on a negotiation schedule with the TSO within three months, the TSO has to submit a binding negotiation schedule which the grid connection applicant may accept within 14 days. Should acceptance not be provided within the specified time limit, the reserved grid connection will lose its validity. With regard to contributions towards construction costs, the TSOs’ maturity-based procedure provides that this is payable in three instalments – upon signing the grid connection agreement and/or the connection construction agreement, 18 months after the first instalment, or upon commencement of construction and upon commissioning of the grid connection. Incidentally, the realisation deposit paid previously is offset against the contribution towards construction costs.

The TSOs have established four criteria and a total of nine sub-criteria for the maturity assessment and prioritisation of grid connection requests. If there are too many admissible requests for the available grid connection capacity, the requests will be prioritised on the basis of the following maturity criteria:

• Site acquisition and approval status
• Technical plant and connection policy
• Capacity of the grid connection applicant
• Grid and system benefits

The first three criteria each account for 30% of the maturity assessment, whilst the fourth criterion (grid and system benefits) accounts for 10%. Should grid connection applications for a site receive the same score following the maturity assessment, the decision will be made in accordance with the TSOs’ maturity-based procedure, initially based on waiting time and site-specificity, and finally – if there is still no difference – by means of a transparent lottery procedure.

Grid connection requests in the distribution network

Following the introduction of the TSOs’ maturity-based procedure for grid connection applications from energy storage facilities and large-scale consumers on 1 April 2026, the first distribution system operators have already indicated that they too are considering moving away from the first come, first served principle and instead applying a modified maturity-based procedure for grid connection applications.

Draft bill on the grid connection package published – far-reaching changes to grid connections under sections 17 and following of the Energy Infrastructure Act

In addition to the TSOs’ maturity-based procedure, the grid connection package is set to introduce far-reaching legislative changes regarding grid connection under sections 17 and following of the Energy Infrastructure Act. The latest draft bill provides, among other things, for the following amendments to the energy industry regulations on grid connection:

• Adjustment of the capacity to be maintained for each grid connection to the highest measured capacity value of the past three years if connection capacity has not been utilised, or not utilised to the agreed extent, over a period of more than three years (section 17(1a) of the draft Act).
• No priority for grid connection for energy storage facilities, but also no refusal on the grounds of lack of capacity, provided that the previous maximum withdrawal and feed-in capacity remains unchanged following the additional connection of the energy storage facilities, subject to the conclusion of a flexible grid connection agreement (section 17(2a) of the draft Act).
• Development of a uniform, transparent and efficient procedure for non-discriminatory grid connections to the transmission grid by TSOs, to be confirmed by the Federal Network Agency, as well as the conditionality of grid connection on the conclusion of flexible grid connection agreements (section 17a of the draft Act).
• Prioritisation of grid connection requests – including for the purpose of reserving grid connection capacity for prioritised expected grid connection requests – based on the criteria
  • safety and reliability of the electricity supply system,
  • existing statutory targets for the expansion of generation facilities, energy storage facilities and consumers,
  • assumptions from the scenario framework for grid development plan approved by the Federal Network Agency,
  • requirements of adjacent or downstream grid operators,
  • efficient use of grid interconnection points, in particular by several connection customers, and
  • designations of areas in regional planning or local development plans (section 17b of the draft Act).
• Grid operators have to publish on their website the grid connection capacities available in their electricity supply network at the voltage levels from extra-high to high voltage and from high to medium voltage on a geographical map and have to provide non-binding information on grid connections (section 17c of the draft Act).
• Grid operators must provide grid connection applicants with clear and transparent information on the status and further processing of the grid connection application (section 17d of the draft Act).
• In future, grid connection applications and the information required for their processing should be able to be submitted via a digital grid connection portal on the relevant grid operator’s website (section 17e of the draft Act).
• Grid operators must reserve grid connection capacities on the basis of common, objective, transparent and non-discriminatory guidelines confirmed by the Federal Network Agency (section 17f of the draft Act).

Outlook

A detailed review is required to determine two issues: first, whether implementation of the TSOs’ maturity-based procedure is in line with the future legislative requirements in section 17 and following of the Draft Act, and second, whether distribution system operators may process grid connection requests in accordance with their own strategies. This also applies to the question of whether the rules may be amended retrospectively and whether TSOs may exclude ongoing grid connection requests that are not converted to the maturity-based procedure from capacity allocation. Overall, it is expected that the policy behind the TSOs’ maturity-based procedure as well as the grid connection strategies to be developed by distribution system operators will be closely monitored not only by the Federal Network Agency but by the entire energy sector and that they will be closely scrutinised – including where necessary from a legal perspective.