Does your grid operator want to control your devices? Are you planning to purchase a new heat pump or a wallbox and want to be prepared for everything? Or do you simply want to reduce your electricity bill?
On this page, we explain what Section 14a of the Energy Industry Act (EnWG) means for you in concrete terms.
Key takeaways
- New wallboxes and heat pumps installed from January 1, 2024, can be controlled by your grid operator if they choose to do so. Whether they will actually do this is highly questionable – the hurdles for them are very high.
- During a control event, devices may only be throttled to 4.2 kW of power each. You should therefore ensure that your new devices are capable of implementing this stepped regulation.
- You are also entitled to compensation, and from 2025, to a time-variable grid fee.
- You do not need an energy management system that is locally connected to the smart meter.
- We help you reduce your electricity bill by shifting your power consumption in line with the time-variable grid fee.
More information on the website of the Beschlusskammer 6 of the Bundesnetzagentur
Who is affected by grid-serving control according to §14a EnWG?
Your grid operator can require that your wallbox, heat pump, or battery storage be remotely controllable. However, this only applies to devices installed after January 1, 2024, and to all those devices for which an agreement with the grid operator under the old §14a EnWG already exists today.
For all other devices installed before December 31, 2023, the regulation is voluntary. However, due to the compensation, it may still be worthwhile for you!
Battery storage systems are only required to be remotely controllable if they charge from the grid. The grid operator is not permitted to influence charging sessions using PV surplus or the discharging of the battery.
Will my grid operator demand controllability?
Section 14a of the Energy Industry Act (EnWG) and the ruling by the Bundesnetzagentur give your grid operator the right to control your new devices. Whether they will do so, however, is completely open. Such a request would have significant consequences for your grid operator. This is because the grid operator:
- Incurs additional costs by connecting your devices via the smart meter (e.g., through services provided by the metering point operator),
- Must compensate you and other users for remote controllability and be able to implement these payments in their billing system,
- Must expand their grid promptly after a control event,
- Must report the control event via an internet platform, and
- Must be able to monitor their entire grid in real-time within two years of a control event.
Furthermore, the technology for controlling devices via the smart meter is not yet fully mature. Therefore, we assume that many grid operators will initially not control any devices in the coming years and will shy away from demanding remote controllability from their grid users.
What does control of the devices by the grid operator mean for me?
The Bundesnetzagentur has set strict requirements for grid operators. §14a EnWG is only an emergency provision. Grid operators can therefore only control your devices if they see serious threats to the security of their grid. They must also justify the reasons and provide comprehensible evidence.
The scope of control is also strictly limited. The grid operator may only reduce the power of your devices – so-called "dimming." This means: Wallboxes and heat pumps may continue to be operated at a maximum of 4.2 kW even during a control event by the grid operator. Most modern heat pumps should continue to run undisturbed at this power level. Charging stations would have to be throttled slightly.
In addition, the grid operator may only control the devices for a maximum of two hours per day. Only when they are able to determine the state of their grid in real-time may they also throttle for longer in an emergency. They must also begin expanding the grid after a control event so that future control interventions are no longer necessary.
As an affected party, you are also entitled to financial compensation.
How will I be compensated for interventions by the grid operator?
You are entitled to reductions in your electricity bill as compensation from the grid operator. The grid operator reduces the so-called grid fees for your electricity supplier. Your electricity supplier will show this reduction on your bill.
You can choose from three compensation variants:
- A flat-rate discount of 110 to 190 euros (depending on your grid area)
- Or a percentage reduction of the energy price by 60%. For this, however, you must install a separate electricity meter for the controllable device(s).
- From 2025, the flat-rate discount can also be combined with an additional module: a time-variable grid fee
(here, grid fees and thus your electricity price fluctuate depending on the time of day; this creates an incentive for you to draw electricity from the grid when it is cheap and the grid is not overloaded)
More information on the website of the Beschlusskammer 8 of the Bundesnetzagentur
How can I benefit from the claim to compensation?
If you want to benefit from the compensation, you simply have to request that your grid operator establish the remote controllability of the devices. By ordering the connection of your devices to the grid operator's control technology, you have met all relevant requirements and are entitled to compensation – even if the actual control by the grid operator is only implemented later.
However, you must expect that costs will be incurred for connecting your devices to the grid operator's control technology. This is because:
- Your metering point operator must activate the remote control in your smart meter or install a control box for this purpose. There are clearly defined legal price caps for this.
- Additional costs may arise for the cabling between your device and the smart meter, as well as for any necessary modifications to your meter cabinet. You must cover these costs.
You should therefore check exactly how much the connection of the devices will cost you in advance.
Do I need a HEMS (Home Energy Management System) that can receive the grid operator's control signals directly at the smart meter?
No. The grid operator commissions the metering point operator to install a control box. Your devices are connected directly to this (see illustration below). A minimum power of 4.2 kW is available to you at all times for each device.
We have explained this in detail on the page regarding the smart meter.
However, you should ensure that your devices are step-controllable to 4.2 kW. Otherwise, your grid operator may switch off your devices completely in an emergency.
What should I look out for?
First, you should check whether it might be worthwhile for you to proactively request remote controllability of the systems from your grid operator in order to benefit from the compensation. This depends on the specific costs for the connection and the modification of your meter cabinet.
If your grid operator demands remote controllability from you, you should ensure that your devices are step-controllable to a power value of 4.2 kW. If the devices cannot be controlled to this power level, your grid operator is permitted to switch them off completely.
The control box installed by the metering point operator has two interfaces for connecting your devices: relay circuits and EEBUS.
With a relay circuit, most devices are currently switched off completely. Therefore, it is important that your device can be throttled to 4.2 kW via a relay dry contact.
It would be better if the device has an EEBUS interface and thus receives the control signals based on IP. Then, a stepped control to 4.2 kW can also be introduced at a later date via a firmware update.
We also recommend that you check the option of a time-variable grid fee. At the end of 2024, we will use your data to calculate whether you can save electricity costs with a time-variable grid fee.
What can our app do for me?
We can help you avoid control by the grid operator and reduce your electricity bill.
If you choose the time-variable grid fee as compensation for controllability by the grid operator, we can optimize your devices for these variable prices.
An example:
Your grid operator has an increased grid fee of 10 cents/kWh for the time from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM. During the rest of the time, the grid fee is only 5 cents/kWh.
We will now shift the charging sessions of your EV, the heating phases of your heat pump, and the consumption of your other devices to the cheaper period as much as possible. This saves you 5 cents per kWh of consumption – every day!
This optimization will not only save you money but also shift your consumption so that it no longer takes place when there are many bottlenecks in the power grid and your grid operator wants to throttle your systems.