From 1 January 2026, customers will have the option of applying for a refund of the grid usage fee when using storage facilities. This applies to electricity that is drawn from the grid, stored and later fed back into the grid. A suitable metering system is required for this.
Under the Electricity Act (Art. 14a(4)), the grid access charge may be refunded upon application for the following three categories:
a. Storage facilities with end consumption
b. Conversion plants (refund on feed-in)
c. Conversion plants (refund on consumption for pilot and demonstration plants)
Storage facilities for end use (Article 14a(4)(a) of the Electricity Act)
Until the end of 2025, energy management for storage systems connected to the grid via a single connection to the EEA and end users was restricted within our networks. As a result, all such storage systems were registered and installed in ‘no grid discharge’ mode. Storage systems registered in this way are therefore not permitted to discharge energy into the grid at any time.
The selected operating mode has a direct impact on the remuneration for energy and HKN. An incorrectly registered operating mode can lead to the energy being declared incorrectly. The owner of the system is responsible for ensuring the correct declaration. To assess the consequences of a change in operating mode, please refer to our explanations regarding the metering and operating concepts.
If you wish to change the operating mode, this must be done via the registration system using a technical connection application (TAG) and a notification of installation (IA). The TAG is used to check the grid compatibility of the additional energy fed into the grid (EEA + storage).
If, when changing the operating mode of an existing system, you do not wish to increase the authorised feed-in capacity, you can proceed as follows:
Send an email to pva@primeo-energie.ch with the following details:
- Subject: Change of operating mode
- Address concerned
- Current metering and operating concept
- New metering and operating concept
- Date of the requested change
- Contact details for enquiries (name and telephone number)
Once the operating mode has been successfully changed, we will automatically initiate the refund of the grid usage charge for the next possible billing period.
In the case of a new installation (TAG submitted after 1 January 2026) with the declared capability for grid charging and discharging and the necessary metering equipment, the potential grid usage fee refund will be automatically initiated following final inspection.
Conversion plants in accordance with Article 14a(4)(b) and (c) of the Electricity Act (StromVG)
To apply for a refund of the grid access charge for a conversion plant, an application form (link) must be submitted.
This applies in particular to:
b. Plants for the conversion of electricity into hydrogen, synthetic gases or fuels: a refund for the amount of electricity that is fed back into the grid following reconversion into electricity;
c. Plants for the conversion of electricity into hydrogen, synthetic gases, fuels or propellants: a refund for the amount of electricity drawn from the grid for conversion into these storable chemical substrates; this right to a refund is limited to pilot and demonstration plants that are powered by electricity from renewable energy sources and have a total capacity of no more than 200 MW.
