Germany 's battery opportunity

This report by Ember and IKND argues that Germany has a significant opportunity to enhance its energy security and reduce gas dependency by scaling up battery storage. While Germany leads Europe in battery capacity and has a strong project pipeline, the authors warn that current legislative drafts and a lack of a clean flexibility strategy may unfairly favor fossil gas in upcoming capacity auctions, potentially locking the country into costly gas imports.

• Germany is a leader in European battery storage, hosting approximately 25% of the EU's total large-scale battery capacity. By the end of 2025, operational capacity exceeded 2.5 GW, which is more than double the 1.2 GW recorded two years prior. There is a significant project pipeline with over 10 GW of new battery projects as of December 2025, including 1.5 GW already under construction.
• The deployment of large-scale batteries could significantly reduce energy costs and waste. In 2025, Germany curtailed 8 TWh of wind and solar generation (about 3.4% of total output). If the announced pipeline of 10.5 GW / 26.3 GWh had been operational in 2025, it could have avoided one-third of that curtailment, saving approximately €0.8 billion in redispatch costs (€613 million) and avoided gas purchases (€219 million). The estimated annual investment required to achieve these savings is €145 million over the technology's lifetime.
• Germany possesses Europe's largest residential battery market, with over two million systems installed, meaning roughly one in six homeowners has a battery. A survey indicates that 30% of homeowners are considering a purchase within five years, which could increase the number of users to seven million by 2030. Smart charging of these systems could reduce federal budget costs by tens of millions of euros annually and alleviate distribution grid bottlenecks.
• Despite high interest from municipal leaders, significant barriers hinder large-scale storage adoption. While energy storage is the most desired technology among surveyed mayors, 60% of administrations report poor or no knowledge of the technology. Additionally, 72% of municipalities describe their budgets as tight or very tight, 50% cite financing as the primary barrier, and 97% report local challenges regarding grid access.
• The report identifies a critical policy gap, arguing that Germany lacks a coherent clean flexibility strategy. Current legislative processes—including the reform of the renewables support system (EEG), the grid package, and the Electricity Supply Security and Capacity Act (StromVKG)—risk giving preferential treatment to gas in capacity auctions starting in September 2026. The authors argue that treating batteries as a first-order solution would prevent long-term reliance on gas imports and protect the economy from geopolitical price shocks.

APA

Petrovich, B., Mewes, C., & Heberer, L. (2026). Germany 's battery opportunity. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2026/05/Germanys-battery-opportunity.pdf

Chicago

Petrovich, Beatrice, Clara Mewes, and Leonard Heberer. Germany 's battery opportunity. Ember, 2026. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2026/05/Germanys-battery-opportunity.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Petrovich |first1=Beatrice |last2=Mewes |first2=Clara |last3=Heberer |first3=Leonard |title=Germany 's battery opportunity |publisher=Ember |date=13 May 2026 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2026/05/Germanys-battery-opportunity.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{petrovich2026germany, author = {Petrovich, Beatrice and Mewes, Clara and Heberer, Leonard}, title = {{Germany 's battery opportunity}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2026}, month = may, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2026/05/Germanys-battery-opportunity.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }