Authors: Thomas Hamerl, Valentina Eigner and Georg Gutfleisch, partners at CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz.
For a long time, battery storage projects in Austria operated in a regulatory fragmented environment: While storage was legally permissible, it was not consistently treated as an independent and system-relevant asset category. This is now changing fundamentally: The Austrian Electricity Industry Act (Elektrizitätswirtschaftsgesetz – ElWG), newly adopted at the end of 2025, defines storage for the first time as a distinct market participant and creates economically significant incentives (such as withdrawal-side grid fee reductions or even exemptions taking into account their system-beneficial operation).
In parallel, the Austrian regulator E-Control is specifying these requirements in its System Usage Charges Framework Ordinance (Systemnutzungsentgelte-Grundsatzverordnung – SNE-G-V), whose review draft (Begutachtungsentwurf) was published on 29.06.2026, as well as in annual determinations of the concrete level of system usage charges. Of great importance for battery storage are also changes to the technical and organizational rules for operators and users of networks (TOR), specifically those regarding metering.
These mechanisms are currently still at the draft consultation stage; many key aspects – in particular the specific details – will be clarified as the process continues. In any case, it is now established that battery storage will be recognised in Austria in regulatory terms and embedded in the electricity market design. For developers and investors, this opens an attractive market window – but only for projects that are structured cleanly from a regulatory, technical and site perspective at an early stage and at the same time have sufficient flexibility for future adjustments.
Overall, an increasingly investment-friendly but also regulated and technically determined market is emerging. For project developers and investors, this creates a “window of opportunity,” while at the same time the requirements for project structuring and site selection are increasing.
ElWG and SNE-G-V: Grid Fee Benefits for Battery Storage Systems
The Electricity Industry Act (ElWG) is the central Austrian federal law governing the electricity sector. The ElWG, as an implementation of EU law requirements, establishes a consolidated legal framework for the generation, transmission, distribution, storage and supply of electricity, as well as for the rights and obligations of market participants and end customers within the meaning of the ElWG.
From a commercial perspective, a key element is the exemption of energy storage facilities from grid usage and grid loss charges, considering their system-beneficial operation, as well as the option of the regulator E-Control to set incentives in system usage charges for system-beneficial operation of all types of facilities. Specifically, energy storage facilities under the ElWG are exempt for a period of 20 years from commissioning from the grid usage charge and grid loss charge components for the withdrawal of electrical energy to be stored. This however only applies in case of “system-beneficial operation”: The operating mode of an electricity generation, consumption or energy storage facility in which system-beneficial utility is provided. Such utility arises in particular (but not only) through the provision of a flexibility service or operation at a location designated in the grid development plan for the distribution or transmission network. The detailed specification is left to E-Control by ordinance, which (at least in its view) may also stipulate that system-beneficial or grid-beneficial operation only exists in certain load flow and congestion situations, whereby the exemption only applies under these conditions.
Furthermore, E-Control may design grid usage charges on a time-variable and/or load-variable basis and thus set targeted incentives for system-beneficial operation for all types of facilities, not just storage. For the grid connection fee, e-control has to take system-supportive effects of the concrete location into account. These reliefs are currently being further specified by E-Control through the SNE-G-V. Examples: Fee reductions for flexible withdrawal or for providing control reserve services.
As a result, a clear legal basis for BESS project business cases is emerging for the first time, particularly regarding optimizing grid fee costs.
Grid Fee Exemptions
As mentioned, E-Control published the review draft for the SNE-G-V on 29.06.2026, which is intended to enter into force on 01.01.2027. The review draft specifies the statutory guidelines for the concept of system benefit. The focus is on introducing the category of system-beneficial storage, which will become the central regulatory prerequisite for grid fee exemptions.
While the ElWG defines system benefit in detail, it leaves the determination of how this system benefit is to be considered to E-Control. According to the status, the review draft provides as a fundamental prerequisite for the withdrawal-side exemption that energy storage facilities are operated exclusively for re-injection. This limits the fee exemption to stand-alone battery storage; behind-the-meter storage and storage co-located with generation, consumption or other storage technologies are excluded from the exemption. E-Control has already announced further consultations regarding co-located storage, so changes are still possible. For exemption in the narrower sense, specific and rather strict requirements must in any case be cumulatively met.
In the distribution network, a stand-alone battery storage is only exempt from grid usage charge and grid loss charge (but not, for example, from the control reserve charge) if all of the following requirements are met:
- no grid expansion is required for the grid connection,
- the facility is connected to a grid node at grid level 4 where the transformer is loaded to more than 80% in at least 20% of all hours of the year,
- the storage has more than 1 MW connection capacity,
- a contract has been concluded with the Austrian Power Grid (APG) for congestion management in the form of flexibility services via the flexibility platform, and
- the distribution system operator may restrict the operating range of the storage for at least five years free of charge.
In the transmission network, similar requirements apply, whereby the grid connection point must be designated in the grid development plan for system-beneficial operation, and the facility must provide reactive power to the TSO free of charge. The TSO may ultimately set further requirements and restrictions for the connection of a system-beneficial storage, and may do so at a relatively late point, namely when establishing the connection. Careful planning and advice as well as regular coordination with all parties involved is recommended.
Grid Fee Reductions
In addition to the frequently highlighted complete exemption from certain grid fees, the consultation draft also shows a significantly broader range of possible fee mechanisms and incentive structures. Grid fee reductions are not implemented exclusively in a “binary” manner (exemption yes/no), but also through graduated models.
- Time-variable and/or load-variable design of grid usage charges as a general tariff control instrument, which exists independently of system benefit:
- reduced fees when providing flexibility services (e.g., in congestion management);
- special regimes for flexible grid use (in particular, for limited or controllable grid connections) and for pumped storage;
- differentiation according to operating mode (e.g., distinction between grid-beneficial and purely market-oriented operation).
This results in a significantly more nuanced picture: System benefit is linked to concrete behavior. What is decisive for the business case is not only the (possible) 20-year grid fee exemption, but above all the question of which fee regime a storage facility should fall under. Against the background of the above requirements, revenue stacking in the sense of continuously switching between different forms of utilisation depending on market conditions while maintaining SNE exemption becomes more difficult. For this reason, the preparation of the business case is also influenced by regulation, and fee reductions may be more attractive than a complete exemption.
Transparency in Grid Access and Connection Procedures
All facilities, including energy storage, benefit from the statutory procedures for grid connection and grid access with legal remedies in case of unjustified refusal of grid connection. Energy storage must be considered in the grid development plans, and suitable locations for system-beneficial operation of energy storage and electricity generation facilities identified in the grid development plans must be published by the distribution system operators on their joint internet platform. The statutory provisions are supplemented by an amendment to the Grid Services Ordinance Electricity 2012 (Netzdienstleistungs-VO Strom 2012, END-VO 2012). The amended END-VO contains requirements for voltage quality and consumption measurements. For the new TOR, see directly below.
Of significance for legal certainty in the marketing of energy storage is that the ElWG has introduced clear special rules on the Public Procurement Act (BVergG) regarding how grid operators must procure storage services (or may exceptionally provide them themselves).
Developments in Other Permits
Conversely, the point at which connection capacities are bindingly reserved, and connection requests are firmly ranked – in Austria, this is the conclusion of the grid connection and grid access contract – has been significantly postponed. While under the old legal situation the application for grid connection was also decisive for the ranking against other connection requests, what is now decisive is obtaining all construction permits. Only when a storage project has been developed so seriously and is so far advanced that all permits have been applied for and finally granted does it receive the ranking and reserved capacity from the grid operator. Those who develop projects for their own use are hardly affected; but project developers who develop for sale to investors can less easily sell their projects before obtaining ready-to-build status.
In some federal states, both wind energy and PV and BESS projects are only permissible in areas with special spatial planning designation. Spatial restrictions are also possible at municipality level, particularly in building regulations. Experienced legal advice is very helpful here.
TOR and Metering: Technical Requirements as a Regulatory Key
In addition to fee regulation, the technical framework through the Technical and Organizational Rules (TOR), particularly around metering, is becoming of increasing economic significance. E-Control is currently working on standardised metering concepts for storage and hybrid systems.
From a project structuring perspective, the focus lies on ensuring a clear and verifiable allocation of energy flows. Emerging metering concepts for storage projects include in particular:
- Stand‑alone storage metering concepts: Separate metering of grid withdrawal (charging) and feed‑in (discharging) at a dedicated connection point.
- Co-located generation + storage (hybrid systems): Metering separation between generation, storage and grid interaction (to distinguish storage charging from own generation vs. grid withdrawal).
- Shared grid connection concepts (behind-the-meter / customer installations): Delineation between consumption, generation and storage within a single connection point, typically requiring multiple measurement points and allocation logic.
- Net-relevant vs. non-net-relevant flows: Differentiation between flows relevant for network tariffs and purely internal flows (e.g. storage charging from co-located generation).
Future hybrid storage solutions (combining multiple storage technologies) are not yet addressed.
EABG: Indirect Driver for BESS
The Renewable Energy Expansion Acceleration Act (Erneuerbare-Ausbau-Beschleunigungsgesetz – EABG) is a recently enacted federal law aimed at accelerating permitting procedures for facilities for the generation, storage, and distribution of energy from renewable sources for which no environmental impact assessment is required. It serves to implement EU law requirements, especially the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED III, EU 2018/2001 as amended), and aims to bundle procedures (“one-stop-shop”).
While the EABG does not contain specific support mechanisms for storage, it acts as an indirect driver. Specifically, the EABG leads to a shift in the project pipeline and has implications for the choice of “suitable” locations: through the planned designation of acceleration or expansion areas (Ausbaugebiete) and the concentration of procedures on such areas, it can be expected that project developments will increasingly focus on these privileged locations. This can lead to a de facto “run” on expansion areas – both around renewable generation and for combinable storage projects.
Overall, the EABG thus reinforces not only the “whether” of projects but significantly influences the “where” and “how quickly” of their implementation. At the same time, it remains to be seen to what extent and at what speed expansion areas will be designated and implemented in planning terms, as this depends significantly on implementation at the federal state level.
Conclusion: Investment Window with Increasing Requirements
The current regulatory development leads to a paradigm shift: on the one hand, a coherent legal framework is emerging by the end of 2026 that can make BESS projects economically even more attractive – particularly through long-term grid fee advantages. At the same time, this framework is still being specified in parts. Some elements will only find their final form in execution. It is therefore advisable to closely monitor developments in order to take them into account at an early stage in project development and investment decisions and to plan and realize projects accordingly.
