BESS Tolling Agreements: What Europe's Largest Deal Means for Battery Buyers in 2026

By Daniyal, Jingye New Energy. Published October 12, 2026.

On 29 September 2026, Statkraft and Greenvolt Power announced a 10-year tolling agreement for two operating battery projects in Poland, and Greenvolt called it the largest publicly communicated BESS tolling deal in the EU (Energy-Storage.news). Statkraft now decides when the batteries charge and discharge across energy and flexibility markets. Greenvolt receives a fixed payment on top of its capacity market income.

Why should equipment buyers care? Because contracted revenue changes how projects get financed. According to Claritas Investments, adding a toll or floor to a bare capacity market contract can lift debt from about a third of project cost to nearly two-thirds, and stretch loan tenors from under ten years to well over ten (Energy-Storage.news interview). More debt means more projects get built. But it also means lenders and offtakers will check whether the battery can actually deliver for a full decade. That is a hardware question.

What is a BESS tolling agreement?

A tolling agreement is a long-term contract where an offtaker pays a fixed fee for the right to control a battery's trading and dispatch. The owner keeps the asset, runs operations and maintenance, and earns a predictable income instead of trading risk.

It sits between two other common models. In Poland, Claritas describes floor deals, where the developer keeps around two-thirds of the upside above a guaranteed minimum, and fixed tolls, where the offtaker takes all market risk for a set annual fee (source). The table below summarises the trade-offs.

Sources: Claritas Investments via Energy-Storage.news, September 2026. Debt shares are indicative market ranges, not project data.

What exactly did Statkraft and Greenvolt sign?

The deal covers two 4-hour projects of 200 MW / 800 MWh each: Turośń Kościelna, which started commercial operation in July 2026, and Ełk, targeted for Q4 2026 (Energy-Storage.news; SolarQuarter). Both hold capacity market contracts from Poland's 2023–2024 auction, so the toll is a second layer of contracted income.

It is not a one-off. R.Power signed a 10-year optimisation deal with a floor for its 1.2 GWh Dzięgielewo project with Axpo, and Claritas notes that Germany already has well over a gigawatt of storage under these kinds of offtake contracts (source; source). Poland itself has more than 11 GW of storage contracted in its capacity market, though only about 6–7 GW is expected to be built by 2030.

The direction is clear: in Europe's fastest-growing storage markets, more projects will be financed on 10-year contracted revenue. Similar logic drives fixed-tariff tenders in India, which we covered in our GEC-III buyer guide.

Why does a toll change what you need from your battery supplier?

Because the owner is still responsible for keeping the battery available and at full capacity, but no longer controls how hard it is used. Under a physical toll, the owner typically passes the supplier's availability and performance guarantees through to the offtaker, and shortfall damages for missing them are a key negotiating point (Carbon Economist).

Availability is where a toll's money is won or lost. Contracts commonly require 97–99% system availability, at least 98% for the battery, and 99% for the PCS and auxiliary systems, with 1–2% planned maintenance usually exempt (Energy-Storage.news). The gap looks small, but falling from 98% to 97% raises downtime from about 175 to 263 hours a year. The same analysis cites Accure data showing nearly one in five BESS projects underperformed because of hardware failures, even after passing their commissioning tests.

In plain terms: under a toll, every hour your battery is offline, or every MWh it has lost to degradation, comes straight off a fixed fee you were counting on.

How many containers does a 4-hour tolled project need?

For a 200 MW / 800 MWh site like each half of the Polish deal, about 160 of our 5.015 MWh containers cover the nameplate energy, and 176–192 cover it with a typical overbuild. Here is our own sizing estimate.

Jingye New Energy estimates. Based on the 5.015 MWh, ≤2.5 MW rating listed on our container product page. The 10% and 20% overbuild figures are illustrative; a real design depends on the toll's capacity test rules, round-trip efficiency, auxiliary loads, grid-connection losses, degradation curve and augmentation plan.

Two things stand out. First, a 4-hour toll runs each container at about 1.0–1.25 MW, roughly half its 2.5 MW rating, which is a gentle duty for LFP cells over ten years. Second, the overbuild choice is commercial, not just technical: building more energy on day one costs more upfront, while planning later augmentation costs less now but needs space, grid capacity and a supplier who can deliver matching equipment years later.

What should your supply contract cover before you sign a toll?

Match your supply and service contracts to the toll, clause by clause. If the toll promises something for ten years, someone in your supply chain must stand behind it for ten years.

• Availability, split by subsystem. Battery, PCS, auxiliaries and controls each need a guaranteed figure, plus a clear rule for when downtime starts counting.
• Capacity retention tied to your real duty cycle. A degradation guarantee built on different cycling or depth of discharge than the toll allows may not protect you (Energy-Storage.news).
• Round-trip efficiency at your C-rate. Ask how efficiency changes as the system ages, and whether auxiliary loads are counted.
• Open data for the offtaker. The toll holder's trading platform must send dispatch signals and read status in real time, so confirm communication protocols early.
• Spares, response times and service term. Agree on-site spares and repair times that fit inside the planned-maintenance allowance, and a service agreement long enough for the toll.
• An augmentation plan. Decide now whether you will overbuild or add capacity later, and reserve the space and grid headroom either way.

Many BESS problems start in integration and commissioning rather than in the cells, a point we covered in our BESS safety and EPRI buyer checklist.

How does Jingye New Energy support contracted BESS projects?

Our 5.015 MWh BESS container is built for utility-scale projects like these. It uses 314Ah LFP cells in a 12×(1P104S×4) configuration at 1331.2 V DC, delivers up to 2.5 MW, and fits a standard 20-foot container. Safety and uptime features listed on the product page include:

• BMS monitoring at cell, pack, cluster and system level, with automatic protection and disconnection
• Three-level automatic alarm and fire extinguishing at pack, cluster and compartment level
• Temperature, humidity, smoke, video and access monitoring inside the container
• Ethernet, CAN and Modbus RTU communication, with protocols and grid-connection requirements customizable for your EMS and offtaker
• Product standards listed: GB/T 36276, IEC/EN 62619, IEC/EN 62477, UN 38.3 and IEC/EN 63056

Behind the product, Jingye New Energy runs a 15 GWh module/PACK production line with MES traceability from materials to finished product, a CNAS-accredited testing laboratory, ISO quality, environmental and occupational health and safety certification, and IATF 16949 for CCS (company profile).

We also run these systems ourselves. The Jiangsu Jingye Iron and Steel 50 MW / 100.32 MWh station uses 20 of our 5 MWh battery cabins with 10 sets of 5 MW PCS. At Huaxi Special Steel (15 MW / 30.09 MWh), Jingye New Energy designed, funded, built and operates the station, cycling twice a day. When you own the asset, availability stops being a contract clause and becomes your own income, which is exactly the position a tolled project owner is in. For smaller sites, see our C&I energy storage cabinets, and for the full range, our energy storage systems.

Frequently asked questions

What is a BESS tolling agreement?

It is a long-term contract where an offtaker, usually a trader or utility, pays the battery owner a fixed fee for the right to decide when the battery charges and discharges. The owner keeps the asset and its operation and maintenance.

How long do BESS tolling agreements last?

Recent European deals run around 10 years. The Statkraft and Greenvolt toll in Poland and the R.Power and Axpo floor deal for Dzięgielewo are both 10-year contracts.

What is the difference between a toll and a revenue floor?

Under a fixed toll the offtaker takes all market risk and the owner gives up merchant upside. Under a floor the owner gets a guaranteed minimum and, in Poland, often keeps around two-thirds of revenue above it.

What availability does a tolled battery need?

Contracts commonly ask for 97–99% system availability, 98% for the battery itself and 99% for the PCS and auxiliary systems, with 1–2% planned maintenance usually exempt from penalties.

How many 5 MWh containers does a 200 MW / 800 MWh project need?

About 160 of Jingye's 5.015 MWh containers cover 800 MWh nameplate. With an illustrative 10–20% overbuild for losses and degradation, the estimate rises to 176–192 containers. A final number needs your toll's capacity test rules and degradation curve.

Can Jingye's container run a 4-hour project?

Yes. The 5.015 MWh container is rated at up to 2.5 MW, so a 4-hour design simply runs each container at about 1.0–1.25 MW, well inside its rating.

Hebei Jingye New Energy Technology Co., Ltd, part of Jingye Group, makes utility-scale BESS containers, C&I energy storage cabinets, CCS cell contact systems, commercial vehicle batteries and DC fast EV chargers.