Approved legislative amendment clarifies the grid connection of hybrid projects – batteries can now be connected to grid with same connection lines as power plants

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The reform of the Electricity Market Act (588/2013) has been ratified and will enter into force on 1 July 2025. Among the set of reforms is an expansion of the definition of a grid connection line – a minor legislative change in technical terms, but one with significant implications for the industry. As a result of this amendment, both power plants and energy storage facilities may be connected to the same connection point, even if they are not located within a contiguous property group area.

The recent legislative amendment aims to correct an issue that arose from a change made to the Electricity Market Act in 2023 (Act 497/2023). In 2023, Section 3, Paragraph 5 of the Act was amended to expand the definition of a grid connection line to include energy storage facilities. However, in practice the interpretation by the Energy Authority led to a situation where energy storage facilities built in connection with power plants could not be connected to the grid operator’s network using the same connection line as one or more power plants, without the operation of the connecting party’s electrical installations being classified as licensed electricity network operations. Energy storage facilities had to be connected to the grid through a separate connection line, or if energy storage facilities were to be connected to connection lines serving power plants, this had to be done via the internal network of the property or group of properties. In such cases, the property group was required to consist of directly adjacent properties under the control of the connecting party.

With the legislative amendment now entering into force, Section 3, Paragraph 5 of the Electricity Market Act is revised by expanding the definition of a grid connection line to also include, as one possible option, an electric line through which “one or more power plants and one or more energy storage facilities connected to them” are connected to the electricity network. As a result of the legislative amendment, multiple power plants and their associated energy storage facilities may now be connected to the same point of connection, and energy storage facilities located in connection with power plants can continue to use the power plant’s connection line or a shared connection line for several power plants. This means that there could be more than one connecting party, allowing the connection to include power plants and energy storage facilities owned by different entities. Furthermore, an electric line serving multiple connecting parties would not be classified as an electricity network subject to a network license but would instead remain within the scope of the definition of a connection line.

We will continue to monitor how the possibility of a connection line jointly owned by multiple parties will be implemented in practice, particularly with regard to the conclusion of connection agreements. Furthermore, new changes to the definition of a connection agreement have already been proposed by the High-Voltage Working Group appointed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. In those discussions it has been proposed that in order for a connection line to qualify as a single connection line the connected power plants must form a unified functional entity. In practice, this requirement would prevent power plants owned by different parties from being connected to the network using the same connection line. However, the new proposal would permit so-called “collector lines” formed for the purpose of connecting assets owned by multiple parties by narrowing the definition of licensed electricity network operations under the Electricity Market Act. These changes, however, will still take some time, as the government proposal is still expected to be issued. However, the issue has been put on the government’s agenda for the date of publication of this blog.

As a result of the legislative amendment now entering into force it is clear that under the legislation taking effect on 1 July 2025 power plants and energy storage facilities may be connected to the grid using the same connection line. Due to the amendment, it is now possible to connect larger project entities to the same connection point in a more cost-effective manner. Where previously separate connection lines were required for power plants and storage facilities located across multiple property group areas this will no longer be necessary – for example an energy storage facility situated within a dispersed solar or wind farm can from now on be connected to the grid via the same connection line. This reduces the need to build parallel connection lines and supports the more flexible deployment of energy storage.

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