In 2022, Europe's battery energy storage installed capacity will be 4.5GW, and it is expected to reach 95GW by 2050
An aerial view of the largest battery energy storage system in continental Europe, a 50MW/100MWh battery energy storage system located in Wallonia, Belgium. Image: CORSICA SOLE
According to LCP Delta and Aurora Energy Research, battery energy storage capacity in Europe reached 4.5GW last year and could reach 95GW by 2050. In a separate statement a few weeks ago, LCP Delta said that around 1.9GW of grid-scale battery storage was installed across continental Europe, including the UK, last year.
LCP Delta said in the seventh edition of the "European Energy Storage Market Monitor" (EMMES), published in cooperation with the European Energy Storage Association (EASE), that it is expected that at least 6GW of battery
energy storage systems will be installed in continental Europe by 2023.
According to Aurora Energy Research, by 2050, Europe is expected to install at least 95GW of grid-scale battery energy storage systems. The company said it currently has 5GW of grid-scale energy storage online. The company estimates that 4-hour battery storage systems will account for 61% of the total installed systems that year and 22% by 2025. Aurora said the five most attractive markets for
battery storage were Germany, the UK, Greece, Ireland and Italy.
Ryan Alexander, Head of European Power Markets Research at Aurora Energy Research, commented: “Batteries represent an attractive investment opportunity in the European energy sector – with new projects being announced almost daily as developers seek to capitalize on the need for storage in the energy transition. Investors will undoubtedly gain a first-mover advantage: The expected surge in battery demand over the next few decades will create a risk of saturation, leading to lower revenues as the market becomes overcrowded."
The release of the figures comes as Kadri Simson, the European Commission's energy commissioner, said energy storage was "critical" to decarbonizing the continent. So far, several high-level policy measures to help kick-start the European energy storage market have taken shape in 2023.
Leading figures in the energy storage industry reacted positively to the technology's prominence when the European Commission published proposals to reform the electricity market design (EMD) in March.
That same week, the European Commission's Net Zero Industry Act included energy storage as a qualifying technology, in what some called a "huge win."
LCP Delta and EASE present their projections for the next ten years in the infographic below.
