FRANKFURT – For over two decades, the promise of the German energy transition was simple: build a solar park, feed clean energy into the grid, and receive a reliable return. It was a contract that turned farmers, local cooperatives, and small investors into the backbone of the “Energiewende.” However, with the introduction of the controversial Grid Package 2026 (Netzpaket 2026), that contract is being renegotiated.
While the Ministry for Economic Affairs, led by Minister Katherina Reiche, frames the legislation as a necessary “synchronization” of grid capacity and power generation, industry analysts are calling it a “poison pill” for small-scale renewables. The new rules introduce regulatory risks that could make small solar parks unbankable, effectively handing the future of the energy market back to large corporations and fossil fuel incumbents.
The “Redispatch” Trap: Turned Off and Unpaid
The most alarming feature of the new package is the Redispatch Reservation (Redispatch-Vorbehalt). Until now, if a grid operator had to turn off a wind or solar farm to prevent a line overload (a process called redispatch), the owner was compensated for the lost revenue. It was a fair deal: the grid operator’s failure to expand the infrastructure shouldn’t bankrupt the energy producer.
The 2026 package flips this logic. Under the new draft, renewable energy projects in “grid-strained areas” can be forced to waive their right to compensation for up to 10 years.
“For a small investor, this is fatal,” says Julia Weber, an analyst at GreenFin Consult. “A large utility company with a portfolio of gas plants and offshore wind farms can absorb these losses. But a local farmer or a citizen cooperative with one or two solar parks cannot survive if their revenue stream can be arbitrarily cut off by the grid operator.”
Banks Pulling the Plug
The immediate effect of this policy is being felt not on the fields, but in the boardrooms of local banks. Project financing for renewables relies on predictable cash flows. By introducing the risk of uncompensated shutdowns, the government has introduced a variable that makes risk models collapse.
“We are already seeing banks pause lending for small- to medium-sized solar projects,” warns the Solar Alliance of Southern Germany. “If the bank can’t calculate how often the grid operator will hit the ‘off’ switch, they treat the project as high-risk. Interest rates spike, or the loan is denied entirely.”
The End of “Priority Connection”
Another pillar of the German renewable success story was the Priority Connection privilege (Einspeisevorrang). Grid operators were legally obliged to connect renewable energy plants promptly.
The 2026 package dilutes this right. Grid operators will now be empowered to refuse or indefinitely delay the connection of new solar parks if they deem the local grid capacity insufficient. Critics argue this gives monopoly grid operators—often subsidiaries of major energy conglomerates—too much power to pick and choose who gets access to the market.
A Market Rigged for Gas?
Perhaps the bitterest pill for green investors is the contrast with the government’s “Power Plant Strategy.” While small solar owners are being asked to shoulder the financial risk of a weak grid, new hydrogen-ready gas power plants are being guaranteed capacity payments to ensure their profitability.
“It looks like a systemic clearing of the market,” argues Hans-Josef Fell, a veteran energy policy expert. “By making small, decentralized solar risky and expensive, the government is clearing the way for centralized, corporate-owned fossil infrastructure to remain the dominant player.”
The Verdict
The Grid Package 2026 threatens to end the era of the “Bürgerenergie” (citizen energy)—a movement where ordinary people owned the means of power production. By shifting the risks of a failing grid infrastructure onto the shoulders of small investors, the government isn’t just slowing down the energy transition; it is actively dismantling the diverse ecosystem that made it possible.
For the small solar park owner, the message from Berlin is clear: The sun may be free, but the grid is now a closed shop.
Which solar parks are affected?
The grid package distinguishes between location and plant type. The focus is particularly on:
- New plants in ‘capacity-limited areas’: This is the most important change. Grid operators can designate regions in which more than 3% of the electricity volume had to be curtailed in the previous year as ‘capacity-limited’ for up to 10 years. New plants in these zones must forego compensation for grid bottlenecks.
- Large ground-mounted PV plants: For solar parks above a certain size (a limit of 135 kW or in the range of tenders is being discussed), stricter rules apply to grid connection priority and additional construction cost subsidies.
- Plants in northern and eastern Germany: As these regions (e.g. Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and parts of Saxony) already have high curtailment rates, they are likely to be classified as ‘capacity-limited’ first
Are existing contracts affected?
For existing installations in Germany, the principle of protected rights applies, which is also taken into account in the draft of the 2026 grid package:
• No retroactive change in remuneration: Installations that are already connected to the grid and receive a fixed feed-in tariff or market premium under the EEG retain this entitlement for the remaining term (usually 20 years).
• Protection in the event of redispatch: Existing solar parks that already fall under the ‘Redispatch 2.0’ regime will continue to be entitled to compensation if they are curtailed by the grid operator. The ‘zero compensation rule’ of the grid package explicitly applies only to new connections after the law comes into force.
• Exception for storage: In the case of battery storage, there are currently discussions as to whether the exemption from grid fees could also apply to existing projects. Industry associations are currently up in arms about this in order to ensure the protection of legitimate expectations.
„Written with AI assistance“
