Over 2GWh of Europe BESS completed, financed and transacted in past week

January 21, 2026
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Another roundup of European grid-scale BESS project news, led by MORE and Zenobe putting Greece and UK projects into operation, and major project financings/construction starts by Acacia in France, Greenvolt in Hungary and Eco Stor in Germany.

Europe continues to dominate our news feed, with grid-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects completed and progressing across the continent by developers and independent power producers (IPPs).

The headlines:

  • MORE has completed three Greek projects totalling 72MW/144MWh
  • Zenobe has put a 300MW/600MWh UK project into operation
  • Acacia has started building a 200MW/400MWh system in France
  • Greenvolt has financed and started building a 99MW/288MWh unit in Hungary
  • NORD/LB has provided financing to Eco Stor’s second 103MW/238MWh BESS in Germany
  • Milvio Energy has sold two BESS projects in Germany totalling 120MW
  • SENS has sold a 85MW/170MWh project in Finland
  • Aquila has sold a 50MW/100MWh project in Lithuania
  • Statera has secured planning consent for a 500MW, 8-hour BESS in the UK
  • NW Group has raised €220 million for pan-European BESS expansion

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The news comes ahead of our Energy Storage Summit EU 2026 in London next month, on 24-25 February.

Clean energy arm of petrochemical group completes Greek BESS portfolio

Motor Oil Renewable Energy (MORE) has completed three BESS projects in Greece, totalling 72MW/144MWh of capacity. One of them is pictured above.

The projects are in Phocis, Florina, and Boeotia and each received funding under Greece’s energy storage support scheme, funded by the EU-wide Recovery and Resilience facility. Other projects that won contracts are under construction, including from utility Public Power Corporation (PPC).

MORE is part of the Motor Oil group, an oil refining and petroleum supply firm.

Zenobē puts 300MW/600MWh UK project into operation

Today, Zenobē announced commercial operations at its 300MW/600MWh Kilmarnock South BESS in Scotland.

The site, which began construction in early 2024, deploys Quantum High Energy BESS technology from Wärtsilä and is “strategically located” near several offshore wind farms. Zenobē said the Kilmarnock South BESS will provide stability services to the nearby wind projects using grid-forming inverters, only the second such project in the UK to serve this function – the first is Zenobē’s Blackhillock BESS.

James Basden said: “Kilmarnock South is a landmark moment for Scotland – a world first, subsidy-free battery that will reduce energy bills and strengthen Britain’s energy security.”

See the full original version of this article on Solar Power Portal.

Acacia starts building 200MW/400MWh in France

Developer-operator Acacia has launched construction on two projects totalling 200MW/400MWh in France, the first in a 500MW partnership with Eren Group announced a year ago. Eren acquired a stake in Acacia as part of that partnership. The two projects are in the Hauts-de-France and Centre-Val de Loire regions. Based on their combined size, each may be a similar scale to France’s currently largest operational BESS, Harmony Energy’s 100MW/200MWh BESS near Nantes.

Greenvolt finances, construction start on Hungary BESS

Developer and IPP Greenvolt has secured a €58.9 million (US$69 million) financing for a 99MW/288MWh BESS in Buj, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, Hungary.

Construction is already underway on the system, which will be completed in Q2 2026. UniCredit Bank Hungary provided the project finance. Greenvolt called it Hungary’s largest BESS.

The project has a ten-year contract from the Hungary government under what Greenvolt called a contract for difference (CfD) scheme.

Greenvolt has emerged as one of Europe’s most notable BESS owner-operators, generally focusing on where there are government-provided long-term revenue contracts. That includes projects in Poland with the capacity market (CM) and Italy with MACSE. The company’s head of storage, Antonio Montoto Rojo, discussed MACSE and the Italian market with us for an ESN Premium article last month.

Rojo was on a panel discussing Hungary and its energy storage support scheme Solar Media’s Energy Storage Summit Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) 2024, when one panellist called the scheme ‘one of the most advanced subsidy schemes to bring energy storage forward’.

NORD/LB finances already under-construction Germany BESS

In other financing news, bank NORD/LB has provided a financing package for owner-operator Eco Stor’s 103.5MW/238MWh Schuby BESS in Germany. Construction on the BESS was slated for November 2024 and it is set to come online in 2026.

Eco Stor entered a five-year toll for it with energy firm Alpiq in late 2025, which enabled this financing which NORD/LB called ‘pioneering’.

Eco Stor launched construction on a larger, c.700MWh project late last year too.

BESS project sales in Finland, Germany and Lithuania

Several developers and owner-operators have in the past week announced ESS project transactions, while not specifying that construction had started.

In Germany, developer Milvio Energy has sold an 80.4MW PV, 70.2MW BESS project that is expected to reach RTB stage in Q2 2026, as well as a 50MW standalone BESS project. It didn’t reveal the buyer for either.

In Finland, developer SENS signed a share purchase agreement with a ‘Frankfurt-based investor’ for the sale of a 85MW/170MWh BESS, in Pyhäsalmi. The project is RTB and closing will take place in the current quarter.

In Lithuania, developer and owner-operator Aquila Clean Energy and investor Energy Gates have closed on a project transaction for a 50MW/100MWh, also RTB. Aquila is primarily known as an owner-operator with major projects in Belgium, Finland and Germany but in this case it sold the project to Energy Gates.

The Central Bedfordshire planning committee has granted planning approval for a 500MW battery energy storage system (BESS) put forward by Statera Energy.

The developer’s Sundon Storage project will have an 8-hour duration, and as such is one of 77 projects currently under consideration for the Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) cap and floor support scheme. 

An 8-hour duration would give it an energy storage capacity of 4,000MWh. 

Whether lithium-ion assets, the technology used in Sundon Storage, would be included in the LDES support scheme was a topic of some debate, before it was clarified that projects would not be excluded “solely on the basis of their technology type”

See the full original version of this article on Solar Power Portal.

France-based NW Group raises €220 million for pan-European BESS plans

French BESS owner-operator has raised €220 million in Holdco financing from institutional investor EIG to expand abroad. It already has an operational portfolio of around 1GWh in France made up of distributed-scale projects built using its proprietary JBox BESS unit, and around 600MWh in Finland. It will also use the funding to expand into Italy and Sweden. It aims to triple its capacity by the end of 2027.

More Germany BESS action

It’s been a particularly busy week in Germany, with several other smaller-scale announcements.

IPP Qair secured planning consent for a 20MW/44MWh BESS in Fuchsstadt, on which construction is set to launch in spring 2026.

Energy firm Seac Group has enlisted EPC and renewable energy solutions firm Sunotec for a multi-phase BESS eventually totalling 230MWh. The first phase will now enter construction for 20MWh, delivered by Sunotec. Sunotec didn’t specify whether it had the contract to deliver the later phases, which are still undergoing internal approvals, grid connection agreements and assessments.

Meanwhile, Voltfang, a developer and system integrator, has completed a 9.5MW/20MWh project for Icecreek Energy. It is located in Alsdorf, in the lignite region of North Rhine-Westphalia. Voltfang has partnerships with other investors, including Tridos and Palladio Partners: we interviewed Palladio and Voltfang on their partnership last year.

Additional reporting by Molly Green and William Norman.

Energy-Storage.news publisher Solar Media is hosting the Energy Storage Summit EU 2026 in London, UK, on 24-25 February 2026 at the InterContinental London – The O2. See the official website for more details, including agenda and speaker lists. Plus, ESN Premium users can get a 30% discount on tickets.

24 February 2026
InterContinental London - The O2, London, UK
This isn’t just another summit – it’s our biggest and most exhilarating Summit yet! Picture this: immersive workshop spaces where ideas come to life, dedicated industry working groups igniting innovation, live podcasts sparking lively discussions, hard-hitting keynotes that will leave you inspired, and an abundance of networking opportunities that will take your connections to new heights!
9 June 2026
Stuttgart, Germany
Held alongside The Battery Show Europe, Energy Storage Summit provides a focused platform to understand the policies, revenue models and deployment conditions shaping Germany’s utility-scale storage boom. With contributions from TSOs, banks, developers and optimisers, the Summit explores regulation, merchant strategies, financing, grid tariffs and project delivery in a market forecast to integrate 24GW of storage by 2037.
1 December 2026
Italy
Battery Asset Management Summit Europe is the annual meeting for owners, operators, investors, and optimisation specialists working with operational BESS assets across the continent. The Summit focuses on how to maximise performance and revenue, manage degradation, integrate advanced optimisation software, navigate evolving market and regulatory frameworks, and plan for repowering or end-of-life strategies. With insights from Europe’s most active storage markets, it equips attendees with practical guidance to run resilient, profitable battery portfolios as the sector scales.

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