Funding applications for battery storage and grid projects
Battery storage funding application: we guide you through handling your funding application for storage and grid projects.
Funding can significantly improve the economics of a battery storage system or a grid project. A funding application requires complete and correct documents and a sound technical justification. As part of project financing, we guide you through handling funding applications for storage and grid projects. The sequence is important: under funding programmes for electricity storage, the project is usually registered before implementation, and deliveries before a cut-off date are not eligible. Anyone who checks the conditions only after ordering may lose the entitlement.
At federal level, a funding application for a battery storage system can run in two stages: first the project is registered online and budget is reserved, and the actual application follows only after the system has been completed and invoiced. Deadlines may apply for this, such as 24 months from registration, after which the reserved funds lapse. As a rule, only new systems that meet the state of the art and are installed professionally and in compliance with standards by an authorised specialist are funded; used storage systems and self-installed systems are not eligible. A minimum operating period often applies. The funding may be calculated as a flat rate per kilowatt hour of usable capacity and be capped at a maximum share of the recognised investment costs; for businesses, the net costs then apply. Registration, application deadlines, funding amount and payment conditions depend on the specific funding programme and the respective funding round.
For a battery storage funding application, too, the proof is clearly regulated. Usual documents are the specialist contractor's confirmation of proper commissioning, the invoices, a test report for the generation plant and the grid operator's confirmation of the metering point number. Incomplete or faulty applications are cancelled, which is why a complete set of documents matters. The de minimis rule also applies to businesses, and a combination with other federal funding is often excluded, while funding from federal states and municipalities may be possible in addition, subject to maximum limits. As a rule, storage systems already funded under the Renewable Energy Expansion Act (EAG) or required by law are excluded. The conditions differ by programme, size class and funding body, so it is worth checking before ordering the system. The load profile and the grid tariff structure are also decisive for the economics, since the capacity charge is assessed according to the grid tariff rules in force and the specific grid usage model, often based on the highest measured quarter-hour peaks. A funding application should present these assumptions in a transparent way.
You can create a sound basis for the application early on: the feasibility study for battery storage and grid is often the first step towards a project eligible for funding, and the grid concept complements the technical basis. You define the investments and running costs in the investment and operating cost plan for storage and grid. For discussions with investors or banks, the technical due diligence for storage and grid is added. For photovoltaics, we describe the funding application for the EAG tender.
