Deutsche Bank and Rabobank Underwrite €835 Million for German Battery Storage

Energy storage developer Return has secured €835 million (USD 936 million) in portfolio financing underwritten by Deutsche Bank and Rabobank, money earmarked for building out battery storage capacity in Germany.

The framework covers three battery storage projects currently under construction in Germany, with a combined capacity of 117 MW. Return said that, assuming four-hour batteries operating at two full cycles per day, the facilities could discharge enough electricity annually to match the consumption of roughly 100,000 German households. Additional projects are expected to join the framework through 2027 as they move toward financial close.

Who is Return, and what is it building?

Return, founded in 2021 and based in Amsterdam, builds, owns and operates large-scale energy storage assets. Its core product is a battery energy storage system (BESS) platform that connects storage sites across national borders and provides real-time visibility into where energy is available and where it is needed, easing congestion and strengthening the grid.

The company frames its expansion around a simple structural fact: Germany increasingly relies on wind and solar power, which forces energy companies to show greater flexibility in managing fluctuations in generation. Storage, in this reading, is grid infrastructure rather than a nice-to-have.

The €835 million figure is a financing framework, not a completed plant count. Only the three projects totaling 117 MW are under construction; the rest of the pipeline arrives incrementally as deals close. The distinction matters.

What do the banks say they are buying?

Dominik Thumfart, Head of Infrastructure & Energy Origination at Deutsche Bank, said the bank's rationale is anchored in the energy transition itself:

"Battery storage plays a crucial role in Germany's energy transition, by assisting with optimizing the revenue potential of intermittent power generation plants and ensuring grid stability. We are pleased to support Return with a financing structure built to scale and structured to meet the capital expenditure needs of Return's German BESS project pipeline."

Two words carry weight there: "built to scale." The framework is designed to absorb future projects without renegotiation, which is precisely what a developer planning gigawatt-level annual additions needs from its lenders.

Daniel Witvoet, CFO at Return, said the financing is as much about method as about megawatts:

"As demand for energy flexibility grows, we need to scale not just our battery storage capacity, but also the way we finance it. By bringing together physical infrastructure financing and our virtual flexibility model, we can expand more efficiently and respond to our customers' evolving needs."

How large is the announced ambition?

The numbers grow quickly from here. Return aims to install at least 1 GW of battery storage capacity annually in Germany beginning in 2027, which represents planned annual investments of between €750 million and €1.2 billion, depending on market conditions.

That target sits an order of magnitude above the 117 MW currently under construction. It is an announced ambition, not built capacity, and it is explicitly conditional on market conditions — a hedge worth remembering when the 2027 figures are tallied.

The gap between the two numbers is the story. A financing framework of €835 million now supports 117 MW; the company says it will need up to €1.2 billion every year from 2027 onward.

What decides what happens next?

Two milestones will determine whether the pledge holds. The first is the pace at which additional projects reach financial close and join the framework through 2027. The second is whether German market conditions — power price volatility, grid congestion, revenue from flexibility — support the €750 million to €1.2 billion annual deployment figure Return has attached to its gigawatt target. The banks have funded the structure; the market now has to fill it.