Germany: Hello distribution grid! Update on self-consumption facilities – Federal Court of Justice ruling of 13 May 2025

In November 2024, the European Court of Justice ruled on the German concept of self-consumption facilities according to Section 3 No. 24a of the Energy Industry Act (see our article on this here). Unsurprisingly, the Federal Court of Justice has now ruled that the power line systems in the residential blocks concerned do not qualify as such self-consumption facilities. Rather, the power line systems are to be classified as distribution grids. This is because they serve to transmit electricity intended for sale to end customers. They are therefore subject to the regulations applicable to distribution grids.

The ruling was based on a legal dispute pending before the Federal Court of Justice concerning the classification of the power line systems of several apartment blocks as self-consumption facilities and the obligation of the energy supplier ENGIE to connect these apartment blocks to its network as self-consumption facilities. Following the ECJ's answer to the question referred for a preliminary ruling, the Federal Court of Justice has now also issued its decision (decision of 13 May 2025 - EnVR 83/20).

The written decision has not yet been published. Once it is available, we will be in a better position to assess whether there is still hope for some of the existing self-consumption facilities.

However, the Federal Court of Justice's decision confirms the assumption that the concept of self-consumption facilities will change. How exactly and when? These questions will be answered by the legislator. Even now, operators of large self-consumption facilities sometimes have problems connecting customers in the self-consumption facility from the upstream distribution network operator and obtaining market location identification numbers for them. Operators of self-consumption facilities must in any case prepare themselves for changes.