Background:
Germany’s framework for allocating transmission grid connections is undergoing a fundamental shift.
With effect from 1 April 2026, the four German transmission system operators (50Hertz, Amprion, TenneT and TransnetBW) have introduced a new, maturity-based procedure (the Reifegradverfahren) for the allocation of grid connection capacity for large-scale consumers and storage projects, including battery energy storage systems (BESS), data centres and electrolysers.
The reform marks a departure from the previously applied "first come, first served" (Windhundprinzip) approach, under which grid capacity was allocated in chronological order of application.
The change responds to a significant increase in grid connection requests in recent years, particularly from large-scale storage projects, which have far exceeded both available connection capacity and planning assumptions under the German network development plan. At the same time, the existing allocation model has
