The development of stationary battery storage systems in Germany – status 2020

Abstract

This short communication paper provides an update on our original battery storage paper for the year 2019 [1]. It contains detailed information about the markets for home storage systems (HSS), industrial storage systems (ISS), and large-scale storage systems (LSS) in Germany. The HSS market has continued its growth of the last few years. We estimate that 60,000 new HSS, with a total battery power of around 250 MW and storage capacity of 490 MWh, were installed in 2019. This adds up to a total of 185,000 HSS, with a power of about 750 MW and storage capacity of 1,420 MWh by the end of 2019. The specific prices of lithium-ion HSS have fallen by more than 50% in recent years. From 2018 to 2019, prices for mid-sized HSS between 5 kWh and 10 kWh decreased by 6%, to around 1,100 €/kWh. The new database of the German Federal Network Agency, “MaStR”, already shows over 90,000 HSS registrations in total by May 1st 2020 and is growing continuously. It also yields some insights into the ISS market, which thus far has mostly been uncharted. Approximately 700 ISS with storage capacities greater than 30 kWh have already been registered. The registered ISS add up to a cumulative power of around 27 MW and storage capacity of over 57 MWh by the end of 2019. However, the current state of the ISS database still does not allow for comprehensive estimates of the overall German ISS market. With respect to the LSS market, in 2019, only nine new LSS projects came into operation with a battery power of 54 MW and storage capacity of 62 MWh, indicating a strong decline in market growth. The new installations add up to a total of 68 LSS in operation, with an accumulated power of 460 MW and a capacity of about 620 MWh. These mainly operate in the market of frequency containment reserve (FCR). FCR prices have been decreasing in recent years to less than 1,500 €/MW/week in 2019. At the beginning of 2020, the prices dropped to around 1,000 €/MW/week, which makes the market increasingly unattractive to new participants. Furthermore, the German Federal Network Agency confirmed three pilot projects of large-scale so-called “grid boosters” with 100 MW / 100 MWh (two projects) and 250 MW/250 MWh (one project) that are expected to commence operation in 2022. These systems will boost the LSS market significantly. In terms of storage technologies, lithium-ion batteries remain the leading technology in all BSS markets.