LEW connects first "grid-neutral" large-scale storage facility to the grid

12.05.2026

Source: E & M powernews

LEW Verteilnetz has connected a grid-neutral battery storage system for the first time in Balzhausen, Swabia. The concept is intended to accelerate the storage ramp-up.

LEW Verteilnetz (LVN) has connected a so-called grid-neutral battery storage system to its electricity grid for the first time in Balzhausen (Günzburg district). The system has an output of 40 MW and a storage capacity of 80,000 kWh.

With the new connection concept, LVN aims to integrate battery storage systems more quickly and in a more grid-compatible manner. The background to this is the strong expansion of storage systems in regions with high feed-in from photovoltaic systems.

The concept of "grid-neutral operation" stipulates that battery storage systems limit their feed-in in certain situations - for a maximum of 1,000 hours per year. The aim is to avoid additional grid loads and use grid capacities more efficiently.

"We need significantly more storage systems in the energy system - but we have to integrate them in such a way that the grids can be operated stably at all times and the storage systems do not compete for connections with renewable energy systems," says Barbara Plura, project manager at LVN: "With grid-neutral operation, we are solving precisely this conflict of objectives."

According to LVN, a study by the Research Center for Energy Economics (FfE) confirms that the limitation to up to 1,000 hours per year only has a minor impact on the economic efficiency of storage systems. In total, around one gigawatt of additional storage capacity could be integrated into the existing grid in this way.
The storage facility was developed as part of the "Feed-in socket" pilot project, with which LVN is testing new approaches to integrating renewable energy and storage (we reported). The site in Balzhausen is intended to be the prelude to further projects in Bavarian Swabia. LVN speaks of a high demand for corresponding grid connections.

LEW Verteilnetz operates the electricity distribution grid in southwest Bavaria. The company is part of the LEW Group.

Author: Katia Meyer-Tien