Large Dutch batteries hard to finance: grid tariffs and uncertain transport rights hold projects back, ESNL finds

The Dutch energy storage association Energy Storage NL (ESNL) published its study “Financieel Marktonderzoek Energieopslag 2026” on 4 November. It combines interviews with 11 financiers and a quantitative analysis of standalone batteries with their own grid connection. The conclusion: lithium-ion technology is considered proven, but too few Dutch projects reach financing.

The figures. ESNL modelled a 200 MW / 800 MWh, four-hour battery in four scenarios. Projects selling purely on the market (merchant) are not financeable, with or without a time-limited transport right. Tolling contracts without that right are loss-making, and combining tolling with the transport right would work only with a very high fee that the market considers unrealistic. According to Energeia, only a small share of projects in the pipeline reach a final investment decision.

Context. The study quotes Rabobank, which calls Dutch grid tariffs “notoriously high”, and compares the situation with Germany, where large batteries are exempt from tariffs under certain conditions. According to ESNL, grid tariffs rise by about 20% on average in 2027. The National Energy System Plan assumes 28 GW of batteries and 110 GWh of storage by 2040.

What the sector wants. ESNL wants a separate tariff category for storage or, failing that, batteries treated as producers, a predictable multi-year tariff path, standard transport and congestion contracts, and long-term revenues that can be stacked, from congestion contracts and flexibility tenders to the capacity mechanism. “Subsidy works until it no longer exists,” said ESNL director Arendo Schreurs, arguing for a market in which batteries can operate on their own.

The exceptions. The association points to the Leopard (GIGA Storage, Delfzijl), Sirius (Return, Winschoten) and Mufasa (Lion Storage, Vlissingen) projects, but warns that their success cannot simply be projected onto other projects.

Real-time data for the country is on the country page