Incentives for business batteries in the Netherlands, Germany and Romania: what the research found

Netherlands: the Energy Investment Allowance (EIA)

• SolarPower Europe lists the EIA as a tax deduction of up to 45% of eligible capital expenditure (SolarPower Europe 2026).
• It is a deduction from taxable profit, not a payment. Illustrative: on €100,000 of eligible investment, a 45% deduction lowers taxable profit by €45,000; the cash benefit is €45,000 times the company's marginal profit-tax rate, which depends on the company and was not part of the research.
• Which assets qualify, how and when to apply, and the yearly budget were not researched. Check them on the scheme's official pages and with the client's tax adviser.

Germany: depreciation, no national grant

• SolarPower Europe names accelerated depreciation for battery storage, plus an extra 10% corporate tax reduction for certified projects (SolarPower Europe 2026), and reports no national C&I capital grant (SolarPower Europe 2025).
• Not a battery grant, but relevant to the study itself: BAFA's energy consulting programme for non-residential buildings has paid 50% of the consultant's fee since 7 August 2024, capped at €850, €2,500 or €4,000 by floor area (oekozentrum.nrw). Whether a battery feasibility study qualifies depends on the programme's conditions.
• The network-charge rules for atypical grid use are not a subsidy, but they can be worth more than one. See §19 StromNEV atypical grid use and the AgNes reform.

Romania: AFIR for farms and food processors

• The AFIR scheme (budget €265 million, open 15 June – 14 August 2026) funded solar for farms and food processors, with storage eligible only together with solar. It paid up to €650,000 per MW up to 1 MW and €550,000 per MW above, up to 100% of eligible costs, and required at least 70% self-consumption of the financed solar output (Capital.ro, 15 Jun 2026).
• Illustrative, from Zorowatt's scenario notes: for a 150 kWp farm project with a 150 kWh battery costing €172,500 in all, the cap is 0.15 MW × €650,000 = €97,500; the payback on the farm's own funds falls from about 7.6 years to about 3.3. The battery is what lets the project meet the 70% rule.
• For companies in general, no government battery programme had been announced as of June 2026 (Financiarul, 22 Jun 2026). The Casa Verde batteries programme of 2026 was reported as for individuals only — up to 75%, at most 15,000 lei, at least 10 kWh (StartupCafe, from a search snippet) — while SolarPower Europe still lists it as covering small commercial users, with eligibility under development. Check the programme's own guide.
• The storage calls under Romania's recovery plan found in the research were for grid-scale projects: 11 financing contracts worth €603 million for 1,546 MWh (energynomics.ro). They are not a route for a behind-the-meter battery.

How to put an incentive into a study

1. Show the case without the incentive first. If it only works with it, say so.
2. Add the incentive as its own line in the cash flow, in the year it is actually received — a tax deduction arrives with the tax return, a grant after approval and proof of spending.
3. Model its conditions, not only its amount: AFIR's 70% self-consumption rule is a constraint the simulation can check.
4. Write down the source, the date it was checked and who confirmed eligibility.

The NPV method these lines plug into is in NPV, IRR and payback for a C&I battery. This guide is not tax, legal or investment advice; the client's adviser decides what applies.

Related guides

• NPV, IRR and payback for a C&I battery
• Romanian business tariffs 2026: no kW charge
• What makes a battery report survive the CFO

Sources

• SolarPower Europe, European Battery Market Outlook 2026–2030
• SolarPower Europe, European Market Outlook for Battery Storage 2025–2029
• oekozentrum.nrw, BAFA energy consulting for non-residential buildings
• Capital.ro, AFIR €265 million scheme, 15 Jun 2026
• Financiarul, prosumers and companies, 22 Jun 2026
• StartupCafe, Casa Verde Baterii 2026 guide (snippet)
• energynomics.ro, storage through the NRRP and the Modernisation Fund

Last checked: 2026-10-30. Every figure in this guide comes from the source linked next to it, with the retrieval date Zorowatt's research recorded (28–30 October 2026), or from arithmetic shown step by step. Incentive details change every year; the ones here were not checked on the schemes' official pages unless linked.