Engelhart achieves milestone for German wind energy: First onshore wind farms approved for aFRR in TenneT zone
Berlin, January 2026 – Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners (Engelhart), in close cooperation with partners Gridfuse, Enercon, Nttb and the windpark owners Looft-Schmidt, has successfully marketed the first onshore wind farms in the TenneT control area for Automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve (aFRR).
Since early December 2025, the partnership has been operating the first onshore wind pool approved for secondary control reserve participation in Germany’s largest transmission zone, TenneT.
This achievement demonstrates that modern wind assets, when managed with advanced technology, can meet the rigorous technical standards required for critical grid balancing.
Breaking the “non-dispatchable” myth
For years, onshore wind assets were viewed as too variable and difficult to forecast for critical balancing services. This project proves otherwise.Through close collaboration between the project partners, it has been demonstrated that wind farms in groups can be controlled just as precisely as conventional power plants.
Utilising Gridfuse’s advanced Virtual Power Plant (VPP) technology and Enercon’s precision park controllers, the wind farms in Huje (Schleswig-Holstein) can now deliver the precise live forecasting and control required by transmission system operator (TSO), TenneT.
Unlocking value for asset owners
The approval covers three wind farms operated by Looft-Schmidt with approximately 28 MW of flexibility, which have already been activated multiple times by TenneT. This builds on the earlier success in February 2025, when the partners launched 20 wind farms (~100 MW flexibility) on the Minute Reserve (mFRR) market.
This milestone delivers:
- New revenue streams: Asset owners benefit from higher revenues by participating in the balancing market
- Grid stability: System operators gain a flexible, renewable tool to stabilise the grid, reducing reliance on fossil-fuel backup
- Scalability: The technological hurdles for precise live forecasting and control have been overcome, opening the door for even older wind farms to participate in the future
Engelhart, Gridfuse and ENERCON are currently testing further ENERCON wind turbine types in order to expand the portfolio and so to enable more customers to participate in the control reserve market.
Commenting on the strategic importance of the project, Sevastos Kavanozis, Global Head of Renewables Sales & Origination at Engelhart, said:
The energy transition depends on renewables taking an active role in system balancing. At Engelhart, our ambition is to make that possible, and commercially viable, for every client and asset we work with. This approval opens a new chapter for onshore wind, demonstrating that renewable assets can be a pillar of grid stability while unlocking new revenue opportunities for owners.
Konrad Wolf, CEO of Gridfuse, highlighted the technological breakthrough:
Onshore wind and solar assets have the proven potential to provide a large part of the critical grid stabilisation volume required for aFRR, replacing conventional gas power plants in most timeframes. Gridfuse has spent four years developing the technology to make this possible. We are proud to take this important step towards scaling this business model alongside Engelhart, Looft-Schmidt, Nttb, Enercon, and TenneT.
Adding the perspective of the service provider, Karsten Tonn, Head of the Service Business Unit at ENERCON, commented:
As a provider of solutions for the interconnected green energy ecosystem, our primary concern is to enable our customers to obtain significant added value from their project. Provision of aFRR functionality for legacy wind farms is a perfect example of the “smart optimisation” area of our portfolio. Thanks to clever solutions for wind farms in the operational phase we secure continuous value growth, future-readiness and growth for our customers and together we make a further important contribution towards the energy transition.
About the partners
Huje: The wind park customer, owned by Looft-Schmidt, providing the wind assets for this project.
Nttb: The technical operations manager responsible for the Huje wind park’s day-to-day operations.
TenneT: The transmission system operator (TSO) responsible for the grid zone and the buyer of the balancing energy.
Gridfuse: Engelhart’s technical partner, acting as the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) provider for all control energy management.
Enercon: The turbine manufacturer and developer of the decentralised control logic required for aFRR participation.
Engelhart: The balancing energy marketer responsible for trading the flexibility of the assets on the market.
PR contact:
Cosmo Shield
Phone: +44 (0)7765936536
E-mail: cosmo@human-works.co.uk