Approved battery storage capacity in Germany rose 207 percent in 2025, far outpacing the 55 percent rise in the number of grid connections, according to data from grid regulator Bundesnetzagentur published on its SMARD platform. Individual projects are getting bigger: total capacity reached 142.4 GWh across 1,937 connections, up from a smaller starting point on both measures in 2024.
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Power capacity rose 119 percent on 2024, also outpacing the rise in connection numbers. If fully realised, the newly cleared capacity would come close to matching Germany's entire pumped hydro fleet: the country currently operates 28 pumped hydro plants with roughly 6.2 GW of power and 147 GWh of storage capacity combined.
Note on the headline figures
BNetzA is cautioning that the approvals overstate what is likely to actually get built. Developers frequently file connection requests for the same project at multiple potential sites to improve their odds of securing a slot, and where several sites receive approval, typically only one is realised. At this time, the dataset doesn't distinguish between storage systems connected directly to the grid and those co-located with generation assets, a distinction BNetzA plans to introduce in future reporting.
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A larger transmission-level pipeline
The 1,937 figure covers distribution-level connections only. Separately, Germany's transmission grid operators received 383 connection requests in 2025 totalling 166.7 GW and 396.8 GWh, of which just 39 projects, 17.2 GW and 39.6 GWh, were approved. Including older applications, transmission operators issued 71 approvals in total. What is actually built and operating today remains modest: the Marktstammdatenregister currently lists 1,292 grid-connected battery systems above low-voltage level, with a combined 3.6 GW and around 6 GWh. (TF)
