Press release from the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW)

• Starting June 1, 2026, the Energy Industry Act (§ 42c EnWG) will allow private households, municipalities, and citizen energy communities in Germany to share surplus electricity from their solar or wind power systems locally.
• However, questions regarding billing and cost-effectiveness are delaying practical implementation.
• The “Forum EnShare” project, led by the Future Energy Lab and the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW), promotes dialogue among practitioners to clarify unanswered questions and provides an overview of the topic through an FAQ page and infographics.

Berlin, May 28, 2026 – Energy sharing is set to become possible in Germany starting June 1, 2026. From that date on, private households, municipal institutions, associations, cooperatives, and small businesses will be able to share their own locally generated renewable electricity with other consumers via the public power grid – that is, in theory. However, practical implementation is being delayed, partly due to uncertainties regarding billing. The “Forum EnShare” project, led by the Future Energy Lab of the German Energy Agency (dena) and the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW), is helping to clarify unanswered questions through dialogue with stakeholders in the field.

“The amendment to the law creates entirely new possibilities: Those who share electricity are no longer automatically considered energy suppliers – and are thus exempt from central supplier obligations,” says Lisa Strippchen, project manager and senior expert for electricity generation at dena. “This is a prerequisite for energy sharing to be implemented at all.”

An attractive alternative to feeding excess electricity back into the grid?

In concrete terms, energy sharing works like this: a household with a solar power system sells its surplus electricity to a neighboring household; or a community energy cooperative provides electricity from its wind farm to its own members, thereby promoting local participation. 

“It’s hard to say whether energy sharing offers financial advantages over the standard feed-in rate due to a lack of empirical data and because the Energy Industry Act currently provides no financial incentives,” explains Strippchen. “But discussions with interested parties show that it’s also about active participation: Sharing electricity with local stakeholders motivates people in a different way to get involved in the local energy transition.”

The technical requirements for billing shared electricity are mostly still lacking 

“Those who purchase the shared electricity – the end consumers – use it to cover only part of their needs and obtain the remaining electricity from a standard electricity supplier. However, because the Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency) in particular still needs to clarify the procedure for allocating and billing the electricity, the implementation of energy sharing will be delayed,” says electricity expert Dr. Astrid Aretz from the IÖW, co-leader of the “Forum EnShare” project. 

Technically, one thing is certain: both the plant operator and the end consumer need a smart meter. These metering systems measure consumption and production down to the quarter-hour. Using an allocation formula, they are intended to determine the proportions of shared and residual electricity consumption. However, smart meters are not yet sufficiently widespread. In addition, many of the 860 grid operators in Germany need to catch up on digitalization in order to process the data. Billing portals from startups such as Neoom and Exnaton could also help with this. 

Resolve unanswered questions through dialogue

“We need clarity on how to implement the abstract requirements of § 42c of the Energy Industry Act,” says Tim Lindemann of the grid operator Hamburger Energienetze. This involves, for example, standards for data exchange formats and accounting rules. 

Lindemann is one of the 18 advisory board members of the forum, which includes representatives from grid operators, energy companies, startups, and environmental and consumer associations. The project brings these diverse stakeholders together in dialogue to resolve outstanding issues. This process has, for example, resulted in an overview of the contracts required for energy sharing. 

“For consumers, it is crucial that implementation is transparent and accessible, for example through model contracts and easily accessible information resources,” emphasizes advisory board member Henning Herbst of the Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband e. V. With this in mind, the project provides resources such as infographics and an FAQ page. Interested parties can sign up for the newsletter to ensure they don’t miss any project results.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More Information

• FAQ-page (DE)
• Project website (DE)
• Sign up for newsletter (DE)
• Infographic „What contracts do end consumers need for energy sharing under § 42c of the Energy Industry Act (EnWG)?“ (png, pdf)