f97.beERIK SCHMIDT’S WORKSHOP
← All terms

Glossary · Energy industry & energy transition

Firm Access

firm access grid connection Right to connection grid capacity electricity grid regulation

Firm access means fixed grid access. A connection user is promised a specific electrical capacity that it may feed into the grid or draw from it. This capacity is secured in grid planning and grid operation. If grid congestion nevertheless becomes noticeable, the risk is not borne primarily by the connection user but by the grid operator or the system as a whole. The term therefore does not merely describe a technical property of a connection. It also describes a right to use scarce grid capacity, and a rule on who bears the risk of restrictions. Firm access is a common term in the English-speaking world, for example in Ireland. It is not a legal term in its own right in German law.

Reference quantity: capacity, not energy volume

What matters is capacity, usually expressed in kilowatts, megawatts or gigawatts. It is not about a quantity of energy in kilowatt-hours. The decisive question is rather whether the grid can transport the agreed capacity at a given point in time. For an industrial site this is the secured offtake capacity, for a wind farm the secured feed-in capacity. A storage facility needs both, depending on how it is operated. In contracts, the firm capacity may be lower than the maximum connected capacity. In the Irish transmission grid, for example, a connection agreement could contain a firm base level. The capacity above that, up to the contractual maximum, was then committed only on a non-firm basis.

Distinction from grid connection, non-firm access and firm capacity

Firm access is more than a mere grid connection. A physical connection initially means only that a facility is technically linked to the grid. It does not yet follow to what extent and under what conditions the facility may feed in or draw capacity. Irish regulation expressly emphasises that firm access is something different from a facility's physical access.

The counterpart is non-firm access, i.e. non-fixed or flexible access. Here the connection user accepts that its feed-in or offtake may be limited in the event of congestion. Depending on the rules, it receives no compensation or only limited compensation for this. In return, it is often connected earlier than grid expansion would otherwise allow.

Firm access is also not the same as firm capacity. Firm capacity describes how reliably a generation facility can provide capacity. Firm access, by contrast, describes how reliably the grid absorbs or delivers this capacity.

Firm access does not mean: never curtailed

The original entry was too absolute here. It suggested that a firm commitment generally rules out physical restrictions for capacity reasons. In many systems this is not true. Facilities with firm access can also be ramped down in the event of congestion under redispatch or congestion management. The difference then lies mainly in who bears the economic consequences.

Ireland shows this clearly. Already the regulatory decision of 2001 treated firm and non-firm access as financial access to the system, reflected in the trading and settlement rules. Firm facilities are in principle compensated for grid-related curtailment. Non-firm facilities largely bear this risk themselves. Whether a facility becomes firm depends there, among other things, on a firm threshold. The regulator CRU has set it at 2 percent expected constraint curtailment.

A second point should be added: even firm access does not protect against faults, protective shutdowns, natural events or emergency measures for system security. How far a commitment extends in an individual case depends on the grid connection agreement, the technical connection rules and the respective national law.

Technical prerequisites

Firm access requires that the grid can safely transport the committed capacity in the relevant operating states. The limiting factor may be not only the line to the nearest substation. Upstream grid levels, transformers, protection systems, voltage limits, short-circuit power and congestion in the wider grid also play a role. In many grids it is additionally checked whether the outage of one piece of equipment remains manageable (n-1 criterion). A connection may therefore be physically possible without firm capacity being committed in full without grid reinforcement.

Legal framework in the EU

Directive (EU) 2024/1711 inserted Article 6a on flexible grid connection agreements into the Internal Electricity Market Directive 2019/944. Accordingly, the regulatory authority is to create a framework in which transmission and distribution system operators can offer such agreements. This applies to areas where only limited or no grid capacity is available for new connections. The framework must ensure three things:

  • Flexible connections should generally not delay grid expansion.

  • After grid expansion, flexible agreements are to be converted into firm ones on the basis of defined criteria.

  • If the authority does not consider grid expansion the most efficient solution, flexible agreements are also possible on a permanent basis, expressly including for storage.

The directive also lists possible contents of such agreements. These include the maximum firm feed-in and offtake capacity and the additional flexible capacity, which can be differentiated by time blocks during the year. They also include the network charges for the firm and the flexible portion, the duration and the expected date for full firm capacity. Anyone connected on a flexible basis must install a certified power control system. Union law thus understands firm capacity as the target state and flexible capacity often as a transitional solution.

Legal situation in Germany

Under Section 17(1) EnWG (German Energy Industry Act), grid operators must connect final consumers, generation facilities, charging points and storage facilities on reasonable, non-discriminatory and transparent terms. Under paragraph 2, they may refuse the connection only if it is not possible or not reasonable for operational, economic or technical reasons. They must give reasons for the refusal in text form. Upon request, in the case of insufficient capacity they must also state which expansion measures would be necessary and what they would cost.

Since the amendment of February 2025, Section 17(2b) EnWG permits flexible grid connection agreements. Grid operators may offer them but are not obliged to do so. Such an agreement allows the grid operator to require a static or dynamic limitation of the maximum offtake or feed-in capacity. It must at least specify the level of the limitation and the periods in which it applies. It must also specify the duration of the agreement, the technical requirements and liability in the event of exceedance. For renewable energy installations there is a separate rule in Section 8a EEG (German Renewable Energy Sources Act). The rules on controllable consumption devices under Section 14a EnWG remain unaffected.

In the German context, a connection without such a limitation corresponds most closely to what is internationally called firm access. However, this is only an analogous transfer and not a statutory definition. Under Section 17(4) EnWG, the Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency) can issue more detailed requirements by determination, including on connection costs and construction cost contributions.

Example Ireland: firm capacity is allocated

In Ireland, new generation facilities in congested parts of the grid are often initially connected on a non-firm basis. The transmission system operator EirGrid then examines in regular runs which facilities receive firm access in whole or in part. These assessments have three possible outcomes:

  • Firm access from completion of the connection

  • Firm access only after certain committed grid projects

  • No firm access for the time being, with reassessment in the next run

According to the report of October 2025, some wind and solar projects remain non-firm for the time being, above all in the Midlands and the West. No firm capacity was available there for new conventional generation. The example shows that grid capacity is not only built but also allocated.

Economic significance and trade-offs

Firm access creates planning certainty. Data centres, electrolysers or industrial furnaces need reliable offtake capacity. For wind and solar farms, banks and investors calculate how likely grid restrictions are to reduce revenues. This certainty has a cost, however. If every new connection were immediately given its full capacity as a firm commitment, the grid would also have to be designed for rare hours in which very large amounts are fed in or consumed at the same time. Depending on regulation, the costs are distributed via network charges, construction cost contributions or levies.

This is where flexibility comes into play. A battery storage system or a shiftable load does not necessarily need full firm capacity in every hour. A connection with calculable and transparently regulated limitations is often sufficient for it. Safety-critical processes, by contrast, need a firm commitment. Hybrid forms are also possible: part of the capacity is firm, the rest flexible.

The distinction from the electricity market is also important. A supply contract does not yet create a secured transport path through the grid. Firm access determines whether a connection user is protected or compensated in the event of congestion or whether it must bear grid-related restrictions itself.

Conclusion

Firm access denotes the binding usability of an agreed capacity in the grid. Depending on the rules, it is secured physically or financially, for example through compensation for curtailment. The term combines technical resilience, contractual rights, regulation and risk allocation. Anyone using it precisely also states in which legal jurisdiction and at which grid level the commitment applies. They also say whether it concerns a physical connection, secured capacity or compensation in the event of restrictions.

Sources

Related glossary entries

Edited by eCMS on 11.11.2026 19:47

© 2026 Erik Schmidt. All rights reserved. Quotations with a link to the source are welcome.