SMA becomes the first inverter maker certified for Germany's inertia market
Serguey Asael Shinder1 min readInverter maker SMA Solar Technology has become the first to be certified as able to provide inertia to the German grid, Energy-Storage.news reports. SMA announced on 28 September that its Sunny Central UP-S battery inverter platform meets the requirements for grid-forming inverters under the VDE FNN guideline version 2.1.
That guideline, published in early 2026, defines the technical and verification requirements for grid-forming units and plants that want to take part in Germany's new inertia market, and sets a standard route for testing and certifying them. The market exists because the rotating mass of thermal generators, which has kept grid frequency within 0.2 Hz of 50 Hz, is retreating as renewables grow.
The Bundesnetzagentur decided last year that transmission system operators would pay grid-forming battery operators for inertia. Under the Momentanreserve ("instantaneous reserve") scheme, running from 22 January 2026 to 21 January 2028, Germany's four TSOs sign contracts of two to ten years with fixed annual payments, and pay more for availability above 90%. The top premium product pays €888.5 per MWs; the basic contract starts at €76 per MWs.
The bottleneck has been equipment. Aurora Energy Research's Philipp Hesel said the market could raise returns on large batteries by one to two percentage points and called it "the first bankable long-term revenue stream in Germany without merchant exposure", adding that all market players are "waiting impatiently for the first prequalified inverters". SMA's grid-forming systems already run at two 300 MW/600 MWh batteries in Scotland and a 21 MW/55 MWh battery in Föhren, Rhineland-Palatinate.
Why it matters
A payment scheme is only a market once qualifying equipment exists. With the first certified inverter, battery projects in Germany can start counting inertia as contracted income rather than a possibility, which changes how they are financed.