The maturity procedure: what changes for municipalities
Connection capacity is now allocated by project maturity, not filing date. Two of the four criteria are largely in municipal hands.
Since 1 April 2026, the four German transmission system operators have allocated connection capacity not by filing date but by the maturity of the project, under the Reifegradverfahren (the TSOs’ maturity procedure). Applications are collected in cycles and assessed together. Four criteria count: land security and permitting status, technical connection concept, capability of the applicant, and grid and system benefit.
The first two are largely in municipal hands. A formal zoning resolution for a Sondergebiet Rechenzentrum (special-use zoning for data centers), a clarified ownership structure and an aligned regional planning procedure raise a project’s rank immediately. Conversely, a site without building rights loses against one with building rights, even if it is better placed on the grid side.
The application fee is EUR 50,000, and the realisation security is EUR 1,500 per megawatt. The first cycle ran from 1 April to 30 June 2026; the next has not yet been published.
For municipalities this means: local land-use planning has become grid policy.
Source: 50Hertz, Amprion, TenneT, TransnetBW, procedure description, netztransparenz.de, April 2026.