Germany will have its first capacity market (CM) auction in September this year, following confirmation from the country’s energy regulator.
The Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur or BnetzA) announced the launch of the country’s first tender to guarantee security of supply this week (21 July), enabled under the Electricity Supply Security and Capacity Act (StromVKG).
The bid for deadlines as part of the first tender is 11.59 pm on 8 September, 2026. The tender is open to ‘facilities that can reliably provide electricity over an extended period’.
It didn’t name specific technologies, but in a CM that would typically apply to firm generators such as gas and nuclear as well as battery energy storage systems (BESS).
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Capacity markets have been fertile ground for BESS in the UK, Italy, Belgium and Poland. Alongside Germany, Spain is also launching one.
The contracts will be 15-years long, BnetzA said.
“With this law, the legislator has created a framework to ensure that the electricity market will continue to have sufficient secured capacity in the future. This is of paramount importance for security of supply and safeguards against periods when too little electricity is generated from renewable energy sources ,” said Klaus Müller , President of the Federal Network Agency.
The projects must meet specific requirements regarding their location and technical specifications, such as providing instantaneous reserve for grid stability, even during periods of inactivity.
The payment will be determined by the auction. It will prioritise projects in the northern part of Germany’s grid.
A total of 4.5GW of capacity will be tendered for the first bidding round on September 8, 2026. That is including a de-rating factor, which sets a maximum portion of a project’s capacity that can be bid in, to reflect that technology’s reliability in providing CM services. It is typically highest for gas and other dispatchable generation, followed by BESS.
Though the figure for BESS has been a point of controversy in recent years, in Poland for example.
The maximum price in the first auction will be €244,000 (US$278,000) per megawatt of de-rated capacity.
The winners in the first auction will be announced on 3 November, 2026, and the second bidding deadline will be announced on 10 November, 2026.
The announcement of the second bidding deadline for long-term capacities will take place on November 10, 2026.
The CM and its potential for BESS was discussed at the Energy Storage Summit at the Battery Show Europe, hosted by Energy-Storage.news publisher Solar Media and co-located with parent company Informa’s The Battery Show Europe, in Stuttgart at the start of June.
You can see the steps to bid on the BnetzA website here.
The auction deadline will be one week before the Energy Storage Summit Germany, held in Berlin on 15-16 September, a separate event. Use our code ESN20 for a 20% discount on tickets.
