Two proposals from the Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate (Ei) went out for consultation within a week of each other. One changes how grid companies are paid from 2028, and the other, and the other, drawn up with transmission system operator Svenska kraftnät, would create a central hub for electricity market data. Both sound like business for network accountants, so why should a battery developer take an interest? Because the way a grid company is paid decides whether it lays a new cable when the network is full, or pays a battery owner for a service that makes the cable unnecessary.
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This means that money an operator spends on equipment earns a return, while money spent on a service contract does not. As a result, building a new line has usually been the more profitable choice, compared with paying a battery owner to store power or a factory to move its electricity use to quieter hours. Ei published its preliminary method for 2028–2031 on 2 November, and several parts of the proposal are meant to correct this imbalance.
Operators compared on total cost
At the centre of the proposal is a comparison between operators. Ei would set each operator’s total costs beside those of other operators. Operators that run their networks at lower cost could collect more from customers, while those with higher costs would have to collect less. Ei intends the incentive to be stronger than the current efficiency requirement, and the amount an operator can gain or lose is larger. Ei would apply the same comparison to any measure that makes better use of the existing grid, and flexibility services are one of them. An operator can therefore choose the cheaper option in each case, whether that is a new line or a contract with a battery owner.
Ei also wants operators to be paid back for the running costs they actually have during the regulatory period. At present, the caps use costs from an earlier reference period. If an operator buys a flexibility service in 2029, the cost would therefore be counted in the cap for 2029.
Less reward for building
Three more changes make it less attractive for an operator to own a large amount of equipment. First, Ei would value new equipment at the price the operator paid, starting with equipment that enters the capital base in 2028, and would leave the valuation of existing equipment unchanged. Second, an operator would earn no return on the part of an investment that customers have paid for through connection fees, which is possible under the current rules. Third, the regulator would treat equipment paid for with congestion income in the same way, so that this money also has no effect on the permitted return.
Ei also wants to change how the rate of return is worked out. The regulator would use market data from the past eight years, and would stop using forecasts and scenarios.
Lower margins for operators
According to Ei’s calculations, the caps for 2028–2031 would add up to about the same amount as for 2024–2027, measured in 2025 prices. That is about nine percent less than operators could collect if the current method continued. Operators would make less operating profit at every level of the network, and Ei estimates their margins at about 20 percent for local networks and 18 percent for regional networks. The regulator does not expect customers to see much difference, as many operators already collect less than their cap allows and can carry the unused amount over into the next period.
Svensk Solenergi, the solar trade association, has singled out the new efficiency incentive as the part of the package that matters most for flexibility and storage.
The data hub, second time round
A battery owner can only be paid for flexibility if the buyer can check what the battery actually delivered. At present, the metering data and contracts needed for that check are held separately by Sweden’s many local network operators. Ei and Svenska kraftnät propose to collect metering values, contracts and information about installations in one central data management tool, and to add an information system for flexibility. The two authorities want all market participants to have equal access to the data at a lower cost, and expect the tool to reduce administrative work and make future EU requirements easier to introduce.
The hub would be introduced in stages. The first version would cover metering values, contracts, supplier switching and customer consents. Energy sharing, energy communities and flexibility could be added in later versions. Flexibility is therefore not part of the first stage, which storage operators hoping to use the hub should keep in mind.
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This is the second attempt at a central hub in Sweden. Work on an earlier version took up a large share of Svenska kraftnät’s resources between 2015 and 2020. In autumn 2025, a new government assignment asked Ei and Svenska kraftnät to prepare a joint proposal. Ebba Busch, energy and enterprise minister at the time, said the changes taking place in the electricity market had to be handled “efficiently and securely”.
Two deadlines
Anyone who wants to comment on the revenue method and the proposed regulations has until 23 November. Ei must then decide on the final revenue caps by 31 October 2027. The government sent the hub report, Ei R2026:08, out for consultation on 28 October and will accept responses until 1 February 2027.
Both measures are still proposals and may change after the consultations. For storage developers, the revenue method is the more important of the two for now, because it decides whether grid companies have a financial reason to buy flexibility from a battery. (TF)
