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How can large-scale battery storage systems efficiently support the energy transition? In a new short study, our Managing Director Christoph Maurer, together with Anselm Eicke and Lion Hirth from Neon Neue Energieökonomie, demonstrates the contribution large-scale batteries can make to the electricity market and power grids—and why well-designed incentives are crucial to ensure system and grid compatibility.
The energy transition is posing new challenges for distribution networks. Using the electricity grids of Stadtwerke Solingen as an example, it is demonstrated how bottlenecks can be identified at an early stage and how grid expansion and resources can be planned in a targeted and efficient manner—an approach that is transferable to other grid areas. A concise summary of the study results has now been published(ger)in the first 2026 issue of ew Magazine for the Energy Industry.
Since the introduction of Redispatch 2.0 in October 2021, Section 13a of the German Energy Industry Act (Ger: Energiewirtschaftsgesetz) has provided for a balancing mechanism for the balance responsible party in the context of redispatch measures. However, due to significant implementation delays, a transitional solution was introduced that is still applied today, under which balance responsible parties effectively assume responsibility for balancing group management and thus perform tasks that would normally fall within the remit of the system operator.
The process-related and overhead costs incurred by the balance responsible party have so far remained uncompensated, while the paid compensation price is intended to reflect the cost for energy replacement. Against this background, Consentec was commissioned by five direct marketers to analyze these overhead costs and to develop a concept for appropriate compensation. The study is published here.
In response to the 2022 energy crisis and the resulting heightened sensitivity regarding security of supply, Switzerland decided to introduce a demand-side electricity reserve as a complement to its existing hydraulic and thermal reserves. In summer 2025, Parliament approved the implementation of such a demand reserve, intended to strengthen demand-side flexibility by requiring large consumers—against remuneration determined through a tender procedure—to reduce their electricity consumption once day-ahead market prices exceed a predefined threshold.
Against this backdrop, Consentec, together with the ZHAW Center for Energy and Environment, prepared a study outlining a detailed and implementation-ready design for the Swiss demand-side electricity reserve.
In July 2024, the latest modelling results of the BMWE’s long-term scenarios were released. Together with Fraunhofer ISI, ifeu and TU Berlin, Consentec is working on the follow-up project, with new scenarios expected in Q2/2026. Over recent months, a dedicated “workshop phase” was carried in order to prepare the modelling of the new scenarios; its results are now available as slide decks presenting various analyses. The analyses address key questions raised by the expert community, such as: Under which conditions can CCS power plants be part of a cost-optimal energy system? How do fast-charging stations for heavy-duty vehicles affect electricity grids? What is the role of seasonal heat storages ? These and further insights are available here (ger).