Europe's grid-scale battery storage fleet reached 40 GW of installed capacity and 77 GWh of energy storage by the end of 2025, a year-on-year increase of more than 45%, according to SolarPower Europe's Solar+ Report. The figures form the backdrop to ees Europe, which opens in Munich on 23 June as part of The smarter E Europe trade fair alliance.
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The Solar+ scenario, modelled jointly by SolarPower Europe and Rystad Energy, projects that installed capacity could quadruple to 171 GW by 2030, with energy storage growing eightfold to 598 GWh. Average storage duration is expected to lengthen from 1.9 to 3.5 hours as solar and wind generation place growing demands on grid flexibility.
Under the Solar+ scenario, annual operating costs for Europe's electricity system could be halved by 2030, saving around €55 billion per year, while average wholesale electricity prices fall roughly 14% to around €63.4 per MWh. The report also estimates that cumulative avoided fossil fuel import costs could reach €223 billion by 2030, with solar deployment alone having saved €8.5 billion in gas import costs during the first two months of the most recent Middle East crisis.
A moving market
In 2025, newly installed BESS capacity in the EU reached 27.1 GWh, with 55% of that driven by privately financed, subsidy-free large-scale projects. But regulatory uncertainty is casting a shadow, particularly in Germany, where proposed changes to grid fee exemptions for storage have unsettled investors. More than 150 companies have joined forces to press for stable, investment-friendly framework conditions.
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Georg Gallmetzer, CEO of Eco Stor, is direct about the stakes. "The Bundesnetzagentur has effectively pushed the storage sector into an investment vacuum," he said, warning that a loss of confidence in Germany's regulatory environment could have repercussions across the EU. "A potential breach of trust on grid fee exemptions would have comparably serious consequences to the retroactive interventions in support schemes in Spain and Italy in the 2010s."
Contrasting mechanisms
Italy and the United Kingdom, Gallmetzer notes, have demonstrated how clear market mechanisms, additional revenue streams and streamlined permitting can create the conditions for sustained investment.
The ees Europe Conference, running on 22 and 23 June ahead of the main fair, will address financing for standalone large-scale storage, pan-European hybrid power plant development and grid tariff design. The ees Forum in Hall C2 and the Innovation Hub Stage in Hall B0 will cover AI applications in battery research, circular economy strategies and the development of a resilient European battery manufacturing base. The smarter E Award in the energy storage category will be presented on 22 June. (TF)
Intersolar Europe, Power2Drive Europe and EM-Power Europe run alongside ees Europe from 23 to 25 June at Messe München.
