German BESS Performance Review: 2025 Results

PortfolioEnergy-optimised virtual BESS performs strongly against German market benchmarks

The 2025 performance cycle for grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Germany has concluded. Here is how a PortfolioEnergy-optimised virtual BESS performed against available benchmarks.

Top Performers in the 2-Hour Segment

2025 Performance Data for Germany

Germany

A 2-hour virtual BESS using PortfolioEnergy's commercial platform achieved approximately 110 k€/MW/a (301 €/MW/cycle) at 1 cycle per day.

Annual Revenue

Unit: k€/MW/a (= €/kW/a)
PortfolioEnergy (1 cycle/day)1
110
LF Energy RTC-Tools (DA price taking, 1 cycle/day)2
77

Revenue per Cycle-MW

Unit: €/MW/cycle
PortfolioEnergy1
301
LF Energy RTC-Tools (DA price taking)2
211

1The PortfolioEnergy virtual BESS used approximately 1 cycle per day at a round-trip efficiency of 90%. Computed using a backtest with optimisation using Montel forecasts and EPEX order book data. Auctions cleared with settled prices. Intraday continuous trading was simulated by introducing a multi-second delay (order book time) between accessing the order book and matching orders. Iceberg orders and user-defined blocks were not considered.

2LF Energy RTC-Tools, day-ahead price taking. Open-source implementation. Results for a 2-hour battery with 1 cycle per day.

To obtain a backtest with the specifics of a particular asset with the PortfolioEnergy optimiser, please contact us at info@portfolioenergy.com.

A note on the Enspired benchmark and cycle targets

An earlier version of this page included a figure from the Enspired portfolio performance page. We removed it because the two benchmarks are not comparable: Enspired's "2-hour" category loosely includes BESS durations up to 3.5 hours, its rolling average changes every time data is added or removed, as of mid-March 2026 it only covers May 2025 onwards — missing the lower-revenue winter months — and the Enspired portfolio cycles at roughly 1.58 times per day versus our 1 cycle/day target. The table below summarises these differences.

Enspired benchmarkPortfolioEnergy benchmark
BESS durationMixed — up to 3.5 hoursFixed 2-hour
Cycling rate±1.58 cycles/day (portfolio average)1 cycle/day
Reporting periodRolling average, months added/removed over timeFixed calendar year (Jan–Dec 2025)
Data coverageMay 2025 onwards (winter months missing)Full year including winter
ReproducibilityMoving targetFixed snapshot

A note on transparency

Germany has no public BESS performance benchmarks. Australia's NEM is the opposite: the system operator (AEMO) publishes dispatch data for every utility-scale BESS at 5-minute granularity, allowing like-for-like comparison on every dispatch decision. See our 2025 Australian results and NEM comparison dashboard.

That transparency provides an order-of-magnitude cross-check on our European numbers. The best-performing 2-hour assets in New South Wales and Victoria — whose revenue is publicly verifiable — earned roughly 190 kA$/MW/a and 134 kA$/MW/a. At the 2025 average rate of ±0.58 EUR/AUD the top New South Wales asset converts to ±110 k€/MW/a, closely matching our German result. Our own Australian backtests (217 kA$ in New South Wales, 153 kA$ in Victoria) convert to ±126 k€ and ±89 k€ — suggesting that our German figures are consistent with verifiable Australian outcomes.

A note on asset-backed trading

Our benchmark results reflect pure asset-backed trades only — every position is physically backed by the battery's state of charge and operational constraints. No speculative proprietary trading is mixed into these figures. This means the revenues shown are achievable by the asset alone, without taking on unhedged market risk.

Why PortfolioEnergy Delivers Leading Performance

PortfolioEnergy's optimisation platform combines advanced mathematical optimisation with real-time market intelligence and robust risk management. Our approach delivers strong performance in both day-ahead and intraday markets.

Real-Time Adaptation

Continuously adapts to changing market conditions, price forecasts, and plant constraints to maximise revenue while managing risk.

Advanced Optimisation

Leverages probabilistic forecasting, nonlinear physical modelling, and market impact analysis for superior decision-making.

Risk Management

Proactive identification and mitigation of operational and market risks to prevent costly events that can significantly impact annual performance.

Multi-Market Trading

Intelligent co-optimisation across day-ahead and intraday markets to maximise total revenue from price volatility.

Interested in learning more about how PortfolioEnergy can optimise your BESS assets? Contact us at info@portfolioenergy.com to discuss your requirements.