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Storage Index: May 2026 is out!
June 23, 2026 France’s BESS market is moving beyond deployment. The focus is now shifting to revenue optimisation and grid integration.
With 1.7 GW already operational and 1.4 GW currently under construction, the challenge is no longer whether batteries will be deployed in France.
The question is how future projects will create value in an increasingly competitive market.
We’re pleased to share key takeaways from Corentin Baschet’s session at Solarplaza Summit France a few weeks ago.
RTE (the French electricity transmission system operator) is working on improving the transparency of grid congestions with, for example, a connection simulator (simuracco). This tool is designed to give project developers and other stakeholders better visibility into available grid capacity before they commit to a connection request.
Battery revenues have increased in France over the past year, driven primarily by two factors.
First, trading opportunities have expanded substantially, as batteries are increasingly able to capture value through more frequent and more profitable participation in wholesale electricity markets, including day-ahead and intraday trading, where price volatility creates arbitrage opportunities for flexible assets.
Second, aFRR reservation revenues have grown, reflecting both higher demand for this ancillary service as the grid integrates more variable renewable generation, and batteries’ ability to respond rapidly and precisely to frequency deviations, making them particularly well-suited to capture value in this market.
Together, these two revenue streams have made battery storage an increasingly attractive investment proposition in the French market. Looking ahead, revenue growth is expected to come increasingly from trading and from mFRR opportunities, rather than from aFRR alone, as that market matures and prices normalize.
The CRE (France’s Energy Regulatory Commission) has proposed new specifications designed to better integrate co-located PV and storage projects, directly addressing the rising curtailment of solar electricity during negative-price periods.
The CRE’s new proposal replaces the actual “non-production” requirement with a “non-injection” requirement: exports to the grid remain prohibited during those hours, but the PV system is now allowed to feed power directly into the battery rather than being shut down.
The battery can then discharge that stored electricity later, once prices turn positive. As a result, more PV electrons are “saved from curtailment,” since solar generation that would previously have been wasted can now be captured and used at a more advantageous time, rather than discarded altogether.
Would like to discuss the French market, storage revenues or project opportunities? Lets’ talk!
