What this is about
A battery storage plant is a row of containers on a prepared surface, plus a transformer station and a cable to the grid. It is quieter than a wind turbine, lower than a warehouse and needs far less land than a solar park of the same rating.
It stores electricity when there is too much in the system and releases it when there is too little. That is what it is needed for, and what it is paid for. For you as an owner it means a long-term lease, usually 20 to 25 years, for a comparatively small area.
Whether your land qualifies depends above all on one thing: the distance to the grid.
Where we looked
Every dot is a substation at 110 kilovolts or above. Together they are 3,770 — the population any nationwide screening starts from, compiled from public data. Your land becomes interesting when it lies close to one of these dots.
A dot is a substation, not a project. The map shows where the grid has connection points — not where we build, and not which sites interest us. Which locations are on our shortlist is not shown here and will not be.
- 380 kV292
- 220 kV122
- 110 kV3,356
Set your approximate location
Tap the map where your land lies. Or enter your postcode above — the marker then sits at the centre of that region.
- Within 5 km
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- Within 10 km
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- Within 20 km
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- Nearest substation
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Proximity alone decides nothing. Whether a substation still has connection capacity is answered only by the request to the network operator — and that is exactly the work we take on.
Boundaries: Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy, VG2500.1 Substations and postcode areas: OpenStreetMap contributors.2 Data retrieved: 13 September 2026. Distances are computed in UTM zone 32 and are accurate to about 40 metres over 20 kilometres.
What makes a site suitable is set out right below — and the first point matters most: the distance to the nearest of these dots. If you think your land might fit, tell us about it. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
How we recognise a suitable site
None of these is a knock-out criterion on its own. Together they form the picture.
| Feature | Favourable | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Distance to substation | under 2 km, ideally under 500 m | Every metre of cable costs money and permits. Beyond a few kilometres a project rarely carries itself. |
| Size | from about 0.3 ha, usually 0.5 to 2 ha | A 20 MW plant fits on roughly half a hectare. More land does no harm; less limits the rating. |
| Access | passable for heavy goods vehicles | Containers and transformer arrive by low-loader. A field track is often enough, but it must bear the load. |
| Existing plant | solar, wind or biogas with a grid connection | An existing connection point can be shared — the fastest route to the grid. |
| Prior use | commercial area, brownfield, close to infrastructure | Land already in use is usually simpler in planning terms than untouched landscape. |
| Nature conservation | no protected area designation on the site | Protected areas do not always rule out a project, but they lengthen the procedure considerably. |
Since December 2025 battery storage enjoys a planning privilege in the outer area under certain conditions — in connection with an existing renewable plant, or from 4 MW within 200 metres of a substation.3 That can save a development plan procedure. What this means in detail is set out in regulation.
The most common reasons an assessment comes out negative
Six reasons, in the order in which they become visible. Four of them are settled before anyone has spent money.
- The distance to the grid is too great
- Every kilometre of medium-voltage cable costs money, requires wayleaves across third-party land and lengthens the permitting process. Beyond a few kilometres a project rarely carries that. The advantage of this reason: it is usually clear after the first map assessment and costs no one more than a week.
- The land is already committed elsewhere
- More often than expected the land already carries another developer's option, a right of first refusal or a right of use from a wind project. Sometimes it is not the land that is committed but the connection capacity at the nearest substation — by a project that is not yet built and may never be. Both become clear early, and neither is negotiable.
- The grid connection is refused — or offered at a price that does not carry
- The most common reason and the one with the greatest weight. Either no capacity is free at the nearest point, or the offer arrives with a construction cost contribution the project can no longer carry. The contribution follows the local capacity price and can differ several-fold between two grid areas; that storage pays it was confirmed by the Federal Court of Justice in 2025.4 For scale: in 2025 around 574 GW of connection requests faced around 54 GW of offers nationwide.5
- Servicing or access cannot be arranged
- A battery container weighs several tonnes and arrives by low-loader. If access runs over a farm track that cannot bear the load, a village street that is too narrow or a bridge with a weight limit, it has to be upgraded — with third-party consent and at the project's expense. The same applies to cable rights where the route crosses neighbouring land. This is the reason that surfaces latest and therefore destroys the most work.
- Planning permission is out of reach
- No planning permission, no project. In the outer area much depends on the privilege under section 35 BauGB: it applies in connection with an existing renewable installation, or from 4 MW within 200 metres of a substation — capped at 0.5 per cent of the municipal area and no more than 50,000 square metres per municipality.3 Where it does not apply, a development plan is needed, and that needs a municipality willing to adopt one. Nothing is built here against a council's stated will.
- Economics tip with market developments
- One to three years lie between the first calculation and the investment decision. In that time spreads, system prices, interest rates and the grid fee regime all move. The grid fee exemption under section 118(6) EnWG applies only to plants commissioned by August 20296; what follows is being negotiated in the AgNes proceeding, scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2029.7 A model that knows only today's assumptions is too short-sighted for twenty years.
The same reasons appear again on Development stages — there assigned to the stage at which projects typically break off.
What happens after you get in touch
Four steps. For the first three you need do nothing but wait.
First assessment — a few days
We check location, grid proximity and the planning baseline against public data. The result is a clear yes, no or maybe — not a sales pitch.
Grid check — several weeks
We clarify with the responsible grid operator what connection capacity is actually available at the nearest point. This is the step that decides most sites.
Offer and securing — after discussion
If the site fits, you receive a lease or option offer with term, payment and decommissioning provisions. We expressly recommend having it reviewed by a lawyer.
Development — one to three years
Connection request, permits, engineering, certification. During this time nothing changes for you; the land stays usable until construction starts.
How lease models generally work
The usual form is an annual payment per hectare or per installed megawatt, often indexed to consumer prices. Some contracts add a share of revenue; for the owner that is the higher-upside and less certain variant.
Between signing and construction there are usually one to three years of development. For that period a smaller securing payment is normally agreed, with the full lease starting at construction or commissioning.
A contract also covers registration of the right in the land register, a decommissioning obligation backed by security, cable rights and access, and what happens if the land is sold or the developer changes.
Tell us about the site
Five details are enough for a first assessment. If you do not know something, leave the field empty or say so.
What owners usually ask
What is the minimum site size needed?
It gets interesting from around 0.3 hectares; 0.5 to 2 hectares is typical. A 20 MW system fits on about half a hectare — considerably less than a solar park of the same capacity. More land does no harm, less limits the capacity and usually the rent with it. The shape counts too: a long narrow strip is harder to use than a compact rectangle.
How close does a substation have to be?
Under 2 kilometres is good, under 500 metres very good. Every metre of cable costs money, requires wayleaves across third-party land and lengthens permitting; beyond a few kilometres a project rarely carries it. This is the most common reason we have to decline. Where the substations near you are is shown by the map above — though it says nothing about whether capacity is still free there.
Can I keep farming the land?
Without restriction until construction begins: one to three years usually pass between signing and building, and in that time nothing changes for you. After that, not where the containers and transformer station stand — that ground is surfaced. Marginal areas are usually greened and extensively maintained; whether that is compatible with mowing or grazing belongs in the contract, not in a promise on a website. After decommissioning the land is returned in the condition it was taken.
What happens after I get in touch, and how long does it take?
Four steps. A first assessment from location, grid proximity and the planning baseline reaches you within a few days. The grid check with the responsible operator takes several weeks — this is the step at which most sites are decided. If the site works, a lease or option offer follows; if it does not, we say so with reasons, and the most common reasons are set out above.
What does the assessment cost me — and does it commit me?
Nothing, and no. Getting in touch is non-binding, we carry the cost of the assessment, and no claim arises for either side. You are committed only by a signed lease or option agreement — and that should be reviewed by a lawyer beforehand, even when it comes from us.
Do I have to invest myself?
No. You provide the land and receive rent for it; development, construction and operation sit with the project. A participation is possible if you want one — but that is a different agreement with a different risk, and it is never a condition. Anyone asking you for money for an assessment or for development is doing something other than what we do.
How do lease models work in principle?
The usual form is an annual rent per hectare or per installed megawatt, mostly indexed to consumer prices. Some contracts additionally provide a share of revenues — the more promising and at the same time less certain variant. During development, before construction, a lower securing payment is usually agreed; full rent starts with construction or commissioning. We do not give figures here: they depend on grid proximity, connection capacity and project size, and they vary considerably.
What term are we talking about?
20 to 25 years from commissioning is the standard case, often with an extension option. Before that lie one to three years of development, usually secured contractually as well — so the actual commitment is longer than the figure at the head of the contract. The plant's design life is shorter than the lease; that difference covers replacement and decommissioning.
Is such a plant dangerous?
Modern systems with lithium iron phosphate cells behave differently from the batteries in mobile phones. Permitting includes a fire safety concept and coordination with the fire service. Without those, nothing is built.
Is it noisy?
It has fans or liquid cooling that are audible in operation. A noise report demonstrates that limits are met at the nearest dwellings. It is part of the permit, not optional.
I already have a solar park. Do the two work together?
That is the most favourable case. The storage shares the existing grid connection — the industry calls it co-location. How that interacts with an existing feed-in tariff is governed by MiSpeL from 2026.
What happens to my land at the end of the term?
Decommissioning is part of the contract and backed by security, so that it does not fall to you if the operator changes or fails. The land is returned in the condition in which it was taken: foundations, cables and hardstandings are removed. What happens to the cells — second life or material recovery — will be decided by a market that does not yet exist at this scale. What matters for you is that the security stands regardless.
Sources
Sources last reconciled on
- Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie: Administrative areas 1:2,500,000 (VG2500), state boundaries, ETRS89 / UTM zone 32N. As of 2026-09-13. Go to source
- OpenStreetMap-Mitwirkende: power=substation with a voltage of 110 kV or above, and boundary=postal_code, retrieved via the Overpass API. As of 2026-09-13. Go to source
- Rödl & Partner (Erläuterung des Geothermiebeschleunigungsgesetzes): Battery storage in the outer area – privilege under section 35(1) nos. 11 and 12 BauGB. As of 2025-12-11. Go to source
- Bundesgerichtshof: Press release: Federal Court of Justice approves construction cost contribution for battery storage (decision of 15 July 2025, EnVR 1/24). As of 2025-07-15. Go to source
- Bundesnetzagentur (Monitoring), berichtet von pv magazine: Grid connection requests and offers for battery storage in 2025. As of 2026-08-25. Go to source
- Bundesministerium der Justiz (gesetze-im-internet.de): Section 118 EnWG – transitional provisions. As of 2025-11. Go to source
- Raue Rechtsanwälte (Erläuterung): AgNes: BNetzA publishes full draft determination on the new electricity grid tariff system. As of 2026-08. Go to source