Return reportedly secures €835 million for German battery projects

Energy storage company Return has reportedly secured €835 million, about $936 million, in portfolio financing underwritten by Deutsche Bank and Rabobank for battery storage in Germany. The report does not say every project in the pipeline has reached financial close.

The new financing framework covers three battery storage projects under construction in Germany, with a combined capacity of 117 MW. The report says that, assuming four-hour batteries running two full cycles a day, the sites could discharge enough electricity in a year to match the use of about 100,000 German households. That household figure is an assumption in the report, not a measured output. More projects are expected to join the framework through 2027 as they move toward financial close.

Return is aiming at a larger build after that. The company reportedly wants to install at least 1 GW of battery storage a year in Germany beginning in 2027. It put planned annual investment at €750 million to €1.2 billion, depending on market conditions. The report describes Return as an Amsterdam company founded in 2021 that builds, owns, and operates large storage sites.

The banks framed the loan as a scaling tool. Dominik Thumfart, Deutsche Bank's head of infrastructure and energy origination, said battery storage helps optimize intermittent plants and support grid stability, and that the structure is built to meet the capital spending needs of Return's German project pipeline. Daniel Witvoet, Return's CFO, said the company needs to scale how it finances storage as well as the batteries themselves.

The report ties the plan to Germany's wind and solar mix. It says the expansion comes as those sources create a need for more flexibility. It does not name the three project sites, a first power date, or a battery supplier.