In Germany, there will be a model from 2025 that will charge different network fees at different times of the day. At the moment, some network operators are already publishing their pricing models and it seems to be very lucrative. There will probably be price differences of up to 10 cents per kWh. In my opinion, the DESS would be ideal for using this. However, a variable in terms of time would then have to be added to the purchase formula. Does Victron see a possibility of implementing this? It is not yet completely up to date, but I think that other countries may soon implement similar models.
This is available using the Schedule Charge feature in ESS.
You set the charge schedule based on your needs.
I am aware that I can enter this manually using programmable charging times and I did something similar when the DESS was not working well. I would prefer it if it was integrated into the DESS parameters. It is not just about charging the storage from the grid, it is also about when I use the grid directly and when I access the energy from the storage.
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Many people use Home Assistant which could have an integration for you to use but that might not be an option.
No, Home Assistant is really not an alternative for me. If I use a system for PV supply and any additional purchases, then this system should also use all parameters. I am also very confident that Victron will succeed. Just as they are integrating all other country-specific features bit by bit. Which I consider to be a huge achievement and am very grateful for. The system of variable grid fees is not yet established. I just think it is important to have a discussion about it in good time. Especially because the basic idea of ​​the DESS fits perfectly with variable grid fees. From my layman’s point of view, it would only be a matter of adding a parameter. From my personal environment, I know that other European countries now have variable grid fees or are thinking about the topic.
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Yes, variable grid costs are already being discussed in Austria too. But I believe that grid costs will be more consumption-dependent and less time-dependent, but I have not yet researched this in detail.
I think it will indeed be very important to be able to take variable grid costs into account in DESS. Only time will tell in what form.
Die Anreizung eines netzdienlichen Verbrauchsverhaltens kann insbesondere durch die Spreads, also die Differenz zwischen den einzelnen Tarifstufen gesteuert werden. Je höher die Spreads, desto mehr lohnt es sich für Verbraucher:innen finanziell, den Strombezug in Niedrigtarif-Zeitfenster zu legen. Der größte Unterschied sowohl von Hochtarif (HT) als auch Niedrigtarif (NT) gegenüber dem Standardtarif (ST) von den hier betrachteten VNBs haben MitNetz (+7,52/-6,69 ct/kWh), EAM Netz (+6,11/-4,65 ct/kWh) und LEW Verteilnetz (+5,76/-5,28 ct/kWh). Auffällig sind außerdem die besonders günstigen NT von den EWE Netz (0,49 ct/kWh), LEW Verteilnetzen (0,59 ct/kWh), Bayernwerk Netz (0,74 ct/kWh), MitNetz (0,83 ct/kWh) und Westnetz (1,00 ct/kWh). Bezüglich der Tarifstruktur lassen sich kaum Gemeinsamkeiten von städtischen / ländlichen VNB oder deren geographischer Lage ableiten. Insgesamt liegen die ST der betrachteten VNB im Mittel bei 7,83 ct/kWh die HT bei 11,82 ct/kWh und die NT bei 2,19 ct/kWh (vgl. Abbildung 1).
Unterschiedlich gewählte Zeitfenster der Tarifstufen
Für die Gültigkeit der einzelnen Tarifstufen wurden von den VNB individuelle Zeitfenster definiert. Damit soll ermöglicht werden, dass die Netzauslastung, abhängig von regionalen Gegebenheiten, berücksichtigt wird und die Verschiebung von Netzbezug in Niedriglastzeiten soll angeregt werden. Abbildung 2 zeigt den Überblick der von den 12 betrachteten VNB definierten Zeitfenster.
Abbildung 2: Zeitfenster fĂĽr die einzelnen Tarifstufen der 12 betrachteten VNB [1] bis [12]
For everyone, in German, what is already certain. The price difference is more than 10 cents and I think that is considerable and should offer even greater price differences than the dynamic tariffs. It would be a shame to let this potential go to waste with the DESS.
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Are you using dynamic energy prices?
If not, you could just setup the dynamic prices - but don’t use an equation but the (static) windows defined by your energy provider:
In the long run, ofc, DESS would need to support both at the same time: dynamic energy AND dynamic grid prices.
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Thanks for your suggestion, but I use dynamic energy prices, and I use them very intensively. The problem of variable network charges is not yet acute, but it will come.
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This feature has been on the to do list for over a year, so hopefully it will be integrated shortly. There are already many countries that have time dependent transfer cost, and as one of those I’m really looking forward for this implementation to take place.
https://communityarchive.victronenergy.com/articles/236792/dynamic-ess-on-beta-vrm-part-2.html
As a workaround I’m currently limiting battery charging during day rates but it is far from perfect.
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It would be nice to be able to set a max price/kWh for when the batteries should be charged. It would remove the need to create a schedule every day.
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Hallo,
thank you for sharing it -
I found the background information:
https://www.ffe.de/veroeffentlichungen/variable-netzentgelte-als-option-fuer-steuerbare-verbrauchseinrichtungen-nach-§14a/
This will makes variable tariff more attractive again.
now with a crazy 18ct/kWh network fee added the variable kW price from ENTSO-E it is not so attractive any more.
So lets see how to “deal” with our Green Complexity Revolution in Germany from 2025…
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18 cents per kWh is still a good deal. My utility costs are 24 cents. The actual utility prices are 13.3 cents, which will fall to 8 cents next year. As far as I know, my utility operator has not yet published any utility charges according to Module 3, but other utility operators are reducing their prices to as little as 1 cent at the cheapest times. If that happens, it will be extremely interesting.
In Denmark we already have this system.
0-6 low: 0.11kr added
6-17 high: 0.33kr added
17-21 peak: 0.99kr added
21-24 high: 0,33kr added
These are added to the spotprice and is most of the time a quite important part of the price and therefore should be added in the price.
Should be easy for victron to allow an additional value to the already shown graph, but I dont know when it will be prioritirized by Victron.
It seems like DESS is what I have done manually for a long time, so this is really an improvement and a reason for choosing a Victron system…. Just need the extra variable added fee to the spot price 
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Any news for this topic?
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No
I did really expect more from Victron on this point. DESS is almost worthless if prices are wrong
Even the cheaper Growatt has made a system that makes it possible to add a custom price by the hour if needed!!
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Just last week I bought into the Victron ecosystem since I got the impression that it’s very flexible and would perform great for my use case (ESS/DESS, AC coupled PV, maximizing profits). It’s quite disappointing to see things like this. I think I will also end up limiting charging to only night time until custom scheduled grid transfer tariffs get implemented.
In Finland it’s typical to have a different grid transfer tariff for day & night. On top of that you pay the “nordpool” market price per kWh. When exporting, you sell with full nordpool price, without considering the grid transfer tariff.
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I am from Denmark
Wenn buying we have on a day three different tariffs added to the raw nordpool price and to that adding 25% tax
Selling is Nordpool raw price minus a small fixed fee/kWh.
I do also find Victron being flexible due to Nodered programming and use of diy batteries, but on this topic it really fails!
This should already be on the Victron todo list, but no idea why nothing’s happen!!
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