At a glance
- Since June 1, 2026, households, municipalities and small businesses have been able to share electricity from wind and solar plants via the public grid
- Initially within one grid area, from June 2028 also in the neighboring one
- Volumes are measured and allocated every 15 minutes
- The existing supplier remains responsible for the residual power
- For utilities and grid operators, load profiles become more granular and harder to plan
What energy sharing is
With the new Section 42c of the German Energy Industry Act (EnWG), citizens, municipalities, associations, cooperatives and small businesses can share electricity from a jointly used wind or solar plant. Unlike tenant electricity models, the plant and the consumers do not have to be in the same building: the power flows through the public distribution grid.
Since June 1, 2026, this has been possible within the balancing area of a distribution system operator. From June 1, 2028, the directly adjacent grid area within the same control area will be added.
How it works
- Plant operators and participants sign a contract that sets out the shared volume, the allocation key and the remuneration
- Generation and consumption are measured in 15-minute intervals
- For each quarter hour, the shared power is allocated to the participants according to the key
- Anything not covered by the shared plant is supplied by the participant’s own electricity supplier, as before
Grid fees, taxes and levies also apply to shared electricity. The law does not provide for any dedicated subsidy.
What is still open
The framework is in place, but practice still has to settle in. Industry experts and associations mainly point to three open issues:
- Metering: 15-minute billing requires smart metering systems, and their rollout is still ongoing
- Processes: the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) still has to define exactly how shared volumes are allocated and billed
- IT: grid operators need to adapt market communication and data exchange
What it means for utilities and grid operators
For utilities as residual power suppliers, the consumption behavior of individual customers changes: anyone taking part in an energy sharing community draws less power during sunny or windy quarter hours and the same amount at other times. These patterns need to be reflected in procurement and in the balancing group.
For distribution system operators, new, locally concentrated flows between generation and consumption emerge. The more communities form, the more important it becomes to reliably forecast load and generation at lower grid levels as well.
How metalogic supports you
mP Xnergy creates load and generation forecasts at 15-minute resolution, for individual metering points as well as entire portfolios. New customers and plants can be integrated automatically with mP Profiler, and forecasts are continuously updated with new weather and metering data.
Find out more on our pages for utilities and grid operators. Or contact us directly.
