Good news! Starting in August 2026 , battery storage projects in France will benefit from grid tariff adjustments designed to encourage these projects to support the grid during specific times of the day .

This comes after the French energy regulator , the Commission de Regulation de l'Energie ( CRE), approved its TURPE 7 reform plan last month.

Starting in August 2026 , battery storage assets will be able to opt for a new " input - output " pricing model, which will incentivize them to provide support during peak grid demand periods. Approximately 3,000 grid areas have been designated as either " output " or " input " zones.

Alexandre Cleret , COO of Decade Energy , a French provider of decarbonization solutions for transport hubs, said on LinkedIn that batteries will receive a discharge subsidy in power-exporting areas during peak electricity demand periods ( 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in winter), while in power-importing areas, batteries will receive a reward for charging at midday in summer.

CRE stated that the goal of this reform is to incentivize energy storage resources to take measures to reduce peak loads on the local power grid during charging and discharging.

These pricing models will apply to energy storage projects connected to the grid at HTA , HTB 1 , and HTB 2 voltage levels. HTA is a medium-voltage distribution level of approximately 20kV , HTB 1 is a secondary transmission level of 63/90kV , and HTB 2 is a regional transmission level of 150/22kV (further up is the 400kV HTB3 level ).

In the HTB category, there are 396 input areas and 1588 output areas; in the HTA category, there are 320 input areas and 1121 output areas, as shown in the figure above. Approximately 1114 HTB areas and 795 HTA areas " do not meet " the criteria to be considered as specific areas, accounting for about one-third of the total number of areas in each category.

Industry reaction   

This reform draws on similar measures in other major European markets. In November 2023 , Germany extended the temporary exemption period for grid fees for energy storage projects to August 2029 , while the Netherlands introduced flexible grid fees and grid connection times for energy storage projects last year.

Clairet highly praised France's own reforms, saying they created a geo-price signal directly linked to system value, thus influencing battery usage behavior.

Clayley stated: “ The cost of the power grid is shifting from fixed penalties to variable rewards linked to flexibility. This is the direction regulation should be heading: simple, measurable, and physically sound. France has just provided a blueprint for Europe to make flexibility attractive. ”

According to Clean Horizon and Aurora Energy Research , energy storage assets optimized for these periods can reduce grid costs by 40% and increase internal rate of return ( IRR) by 1-2 percentage points.

However, in response to Claire's post, some industry executives stated that this move could lag behind market realities, such as if the input - output balance of a region changes. Several executives pointed out that if France had a nodal electricity market system (like California or Texas), such adjustments would not be necessary.

Another pointed out concerns about intergenerational equity, noting that traditional energy projects benefit from fixed rates (and public funding), while new entrants now face variable costs of accessing systems with inflexible designs.

France’s largest battery energy storage system ( BESS) went into commercial operation in early August . It has an installed capacity of 100 MW /200 MWh and was built by developer and operator  Harmony Energy  .

If the project is located within two-thirds of the included area and is connected to the grid via a 63kV connection at the HTB 1 sub-transmission level, it may benefit from the TURPE 7 reform.