Bayernwerk: Focus shifts to large storage facilities and data centers

22.04.2026

Source: E & M powernews

Egon Leo Westphal locates the energy transition in the second half of the century. And that brings with it new challenges. For example, in terms of order on the playing field.

According to the Bayernwerk CEO at the annual press conference at the company's headquarters in Regensburg, responsibility among the players in the energy system needs to be reorganized - in other words, who gets access to the grids and when. Because the rush is gigantic at the moment: 41 data centers want to be connected with a power requirement of 6,000 MW, mainly in the greater Munich area and in the Würzburg/Aschaffenburg region.

There are also battery storage systems. Not just for home use, which is already huge. The main focus is on the integration of large-scale storage systems "with a capacity that can and will never be achieved". Westphal: "We're currently talking about 80,000 MW, well over ten times our maximum load - where are they going to go?" What's more, such large-scale storage systems do not automatically relieve the load on the electricity grids. They can be used in a grid-neutral, grid-supporting or grid-loading manner, depending on the business model. And anything that puts a strain on the grids, says the CEO, is "difficult". In other words, it is certainly not the first priority when it comes to obtaining one of the valuable grid accesses.

Grid capacities as the "gold of the energy transition"

And Westphal and the state politicians have already decided who should come out on top in the run for grid capacities, which are increasingly becoming the "gold of the energy transition": Industry and commerce, which create jobs, are in first place, followed by data centers and only then the type of storage systems that put a strain on the grids. This was also agreed at the Bavarian electricity summit with Minister President Markus Söder and Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger.

According to Westphal, we now need new and clear rules, a new order in the energy system. This assessment is also shared by the federal government, and he positively assesses a draft from the Ministry of Economic Affairs for a grid package that takes into account the relevance of controlling and synchronizing the construction of new plants. Initiatives by the Federal Network Agency are also moving in the right direction.

Subsidies for feed-in generators were another topic at the event in Regensburg. Incentives inherent in the system are needed to build new plants where capacities allow. Incentives where the general public has to pay compensation for electricity feed-ins that do not make sense are not fair, Westphal believes.

In the second half of the energy transition, Bayernwerk sees bidirectional charging coming onto the playing field - in other words, an electric car that can supply electricity to the grid when needed to stabilize it. Charging electric trucks and nationwide storage for home photovoltaic systems for own use of electricity would also gain in importance.

Another key topic at the annual press conference was the resilience of systems, which has been challenged in the past by coronavirus, flooding, the war in Ukraine and, most recently, the attack in Berlin. The Bayernwerk Executive Board agrees that decentralized supply is the best prerequisite for resilience. The focus here is on the flexumer, i.e. those who not only consume and produce energy, but can also store it, use it themselves and supply it close to where it is generated.

Too much transparency is not good either

HR and Market Director Albert Zettl referred to the safety aspects of resilience, cooperation with the authorities, but also to problematic publication obligations that need to be changed. "Such all-encompassing transparency is no longer in keeping with the times."

In the end, Westphal left no doubt that the grids must continue to grow. By 2025, 2,330 MW of PV capacity had been integrated, and almost 24,000 MW of renewable capacity is currently flowing through the lines. Regensburg is now also confident that the 1,000 wind turbines by 2030 target set by state policy can be achieved.

Whereas a few years ago there was talk of Bayernwerk having to double its capacity, this is now outdated: In 2030, it will triple compared to 2020. The grid operator plans to invest 12 billion euros in the energy transition between 2026 and 2030, with 2.2 billion euros earmarked for this year alone, as CFO Daniela Groher explained. Bayernwerk anticipates a tripling of renewable generation capacity and a doubling of electricity consumption by 2045.

Author: Günter Drewnitzky