BESS Marketing
Stabile Revenue Streams for Your Battery Energy Storage System
Build your BESS project on a solid foundation: Our marketing model enables predictable revenues for your utility-scale battery while allowing you to capitalize on opportunities in short-term power markets. As one of Germany’s pioneering marketers of renewable energies, we combine extensive expertise in short-term power trading with the financial strength of the Shell Group.
Tolling & Merchant
Taking Bess Marketing to the Next Level
Benefit from guaranteed monthly revenues through our tolling model and secure bankable cash flows that support the financing of your BESS project. Alternatively, choose a hybrid model and capture additional market opportunities. The overall revenue potential of your BESS depends on its optimization potential and the markets in which that potential can be unlocked.
All markets, multiple technologies: As one of the leading RES (Renewable Energy Sources) marketers, managing a portfolio of more than 10 GW, we have been active across all major power and flexibility markets for many years.
Financial strength and security: Ambitious projects require strong partners. As part of the Shell Group, we provide the financial stability and security needed to support the financing of your BESS project.
Everything in-house: From our 24/7 trading desk to technology and software development, we bring together all the expertise required under one roof –ensuring maximum reliability and security.
First mover: We concluded one of Germany’s first operational tolling agreements and have actively contributed to shaping the country’s battery storage market.
Cross-Market Optimization
How We Optimize Your Utility-Scale Battery Storage System
To maximize your revenue potential, we market your Standalone BESS not only in the day-ahead and intraday markets, but also in ancillary services markets, where your asset contributes to maintaining grid stability. To ensure safe and profitable operations, we automatically consider a wider range of data points and constraints, including:
- Price forecasts across multiple markets
- Techlical constraints (state of charge, cycling limits, availability)
- Regulatory requirements (PQ and redispatch)
- Risik and revenue profiles, as well as real-time responses to charging market conditions
Selected BESS Projects
Tolling Agreement for Germany´s Largest Battery Storage Project
Next Kraftwerke and ECO STOR have entered into a five-year flexibility tolling agreement for the commercialization of the 103.5 MW / 238 MWh battery storage project in Förderstedt. ECO STOR is one of Germany’s leading battery storage developers. The agreement provides the economic foundation for the project's long-term operation and highlights the increasing maturity of the German utility-scale battery storage market.
The hybrid model combines fixed tolling revenues with additional upside linked to market-based earnings, creating a balanced risk-return profile.
Tolling Agreement with ju:niz Enery
The tolling agreement with ju:niz Energy for the commercialization of a 20 MW utility-scale BESS was among the first operational agreements of its kind in Germany.The seven-year contractual framework for the SMAREG 12 battery storage project combines a Capacity Purchase Agreement (tolling) covering 80 percent of the asset’s capacity with a flexible, market-driven merchant remuneration model for the remaining 20 percent.
Next Kraftwerke has been marketing SMAREG 12 since 1 November and has successfully operated BESS assets since 2018 in both highly dynamic ancillary services markets and spot power markets.
Your Path into BESS Marketing
BESS FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
In these FAQs, we answer the most common questions about marketing BESS through Next Kraftwerke’s Virtual Power Plant.
If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact us directly. Our team will be happy to assist you.
Next Kraftwerke markets your battery energy storage system (BESS) through long-term tolling models that combine predictable revenues with market-based optimization. Under this approach, a large share of the storage capacity is secured through fixed-price tolling arrangements, while a smaller share remains exposed to market opportunities under a merchant model. As part of this service, we take over the operational management of your battery and optimize its deployment across multiple markets, including the day-ahead, intraday, and ancillary services markets. Based on price signals and grid conditions, your battery is continuously optimized to maximize revenues while simultaneously providing system services such as balancing power.
This model combines long-term planning certainty with flexible, data-driven optimization and creates a solid foundation for the profitable operation of large-scale battery storage systems.
Next Kraftwerke markets stand-alone battery storage systems with a capacity of 25 MW or more. To participate, your battery must be connected to our Virtual Power Plant via the Next Box, our remote-control unit. This connection enables us to control your battery and deploy it profitably across relevant energy markets. Participation in ancillary services markets additionally requires your battery to complete the prequalification process. We take care of the entire prequalification procedure on your behalf.
Balancing enegry is used to compensate for deviations in grid frequency. If the grid frequency drops below its target value, additional electricity must be supplied to the grid or consumption must be reduced (positive balancing energy). If the frequency rises above its target value, electricity generation must be reduced or additional electricity must be consumed (negative balancing energy).
Battery storage systems can both feed electricity into the grid and absorb electricity from it. Unlike wind and solar generation, they are not dependent on weather conditions and can respond with high flexibility. To provide balancing energy, your battery must first be prequalified. During this process, the amount of balancing power your battery can reliably provide is determined. Based on this certified capacity range, Next Kraftwerke submits bids to the transmission system operators in ancillary services market auctions. If a bid is awarded, the corresponding capacity must be made available on the delivery day. In practice, this means that balancing power can be activated from your battery whenever the grid frequency deviates from its nominal value. Thanks to the Next Box, this process is fully automated.
If balancing energy is activated over an extended period, we restore the battery’s original state through energy management measures. This may require charging or discharging the battery to return it to the desired state of charge.
Your battery storage system is connected to the Virtual Power Plant control system via the Next Box, our remote-control gateway. A secure mobile communications connection ensures reliable communication between your battery and our control system.
Optionally, the Next Box can be equipped with a grid frequency measurement device, enabling even faster responses to frequency deviations. The control system is the heart of the Virtual Power Plant. It continuously processes all relevant operational and market data from connected assets in real time. Based on this information, the system continuously monitors, controls, and optimizes the battery. It automatically determines when and how the storage system should be deployed, whether for participation in ancillary services markets or for optimization in the day-ahead and intraday markets.This ensures that your battery's available flexibility is utilized and marketed in the most efficient way at all times.
Zahlen & Fakten
Employees
Locations
Aggregated Units
Networked Capacity
Volume of traded energy
Control areas in which Next Kraftwerke is active in Germany
We Are Next Kraftwerke
As one of Europe’s largest Virtual Power Plants, we connect thousands of decentralized power generators and consumers. Through this network, we enable smaller assets – including wind farms, solar installations, biogas plants, and battery energy storage systems – to participate in attractive electricity markets.
Via our proprietary trading floor, we trade on multiple European power exchanges and provide reserve capacity to support grid stability. In doing so, we help shape the energy landscape of the future – towards a power system powered by 100% renewable energy.