German renewable energy groups urge revisions to proposed grid package

Renewable energy associations BSW-Solar and BNE are calling for fundamental revisions to the German government’s proposed ‘Netzpaket’ (grid package) during Bundestag Economic Committee hearings. The associations warn that the current draft could create investment hurdles and establish ‘exclusion zones’ for new solar parks due to temporary grid bottlenecks and redispatch reserves.

Industry leaders argue that instead of restricting renewable expansion, the government should prioritize the rapid digitalization and expansion of power grids. They suggest that increasing battery storage and utilizing existing capacities more intelligently through flexibility would mitigate congestion.

Complementing these concerns, an analysis by Green Planet Energy reveals that the ‘use instead of curtailment’ instrument has failed to reach its potential. Between October 2024 and September 2026, approximately 8.2 terawatt-hours of renewable electricity could have been utilized, yet only 3.35 gigawatt-hours were actually used. This inefficiency resulted in over 99.9 percent of the potential remaining untapped. Experts suggest that strict participation conditions and bureaucratic hurdles prevent flexible consumers, such as heat pumps and electric vehicles, from effectively utilizing surplus green electricity, which could have saved hundreds of millions of euros in redispatch costs.