Cologne - ENGIE and Return have signed an agreement for an additional 300 MW of battery storage flexibility in Germany. Structured as a virtual Flexibility Purchase Agreement (FPA), the deal brings the total contracted flexibility between the two companies in the country to 400 MW.
The agreement uses a model that is still relatively new in the German market: unlike an arrangement tied to a single battery storage site, the flexibility capacity is pooled across several battery storage facilities operated by Return in Germany.
The capacity will be made available through Return's Virtual Flexibility Portfolio (VFP), which combines Return-owned battery storage assets into a single virtual portfolio, enabling ENGIE to access flexibility through a single interface. Using the existing setup between ENGIE and Return, additional capacity can be added as Return’s portfolio grows. The agreement builds on the partners' initial 100 MW transaction in Germany and a subsequent 55 MW agreement in Spain, demonstrating how the VFP model and ENGIE-Return partnership can expand across European markets.
"Our partnership with Return demonstrates how innovative virtual Flexibility Purchase Agreements can help accelerate the development of battery storage and support ENGIE's ambition to deliver 24/7 carbon-free energy to our customers” ,said Martin Daronnat, Head of Flexibility and Structured Origination Germany at ENGIE.
Flip van der Weijden, Head of Growth at Return, added: "This agreement demonstrates how the model scales. After establishing the initial 100 MW framework with ENGIE, we can now add a further 300 MW from our German portfolio through the existing setup. That simplicity is at the heart of our Virtual Flexibility Portfolio: giving offtakers a scalable way to access flexibility as our portfolio grows. Together with our expansion into Spain, it shows how we can grow this partnership across Europe."
As renewable energy grows, so does the need for flexibility and grid balancing. Long-term portfolio-based agreements can support battery storage deployment by providing greater revenue visibility, while giving offtakers scalable access to the flexible capacity needed to integrate growing volumes of renewable energy.