Activity in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) continues to accelerate, with two separate c.600MWh projects completed in Bulgaria by Solarpro & CATL and Sunotec and Sungrow, plus around 800MWh of capacity progressed across Romania, Estonia, Lithuania, and Finland.

Large-scale BESS projects have been completed or progressed in Bulgaria, Moldova, North Macedonia and Romania, including what is now the largest operational system in the CEE region.

Another busy week of large-scale BESS project news across Europe, led by CountourGlobal putting a 202MW/505MWh BESS into commercial operation in Bulgaria.

Nearly 70% of the 4.5GW/12.7GWh of grid-scale BESS that came online across the globe last month was in China.

Production has begun at a battery energy storage system (BESS) factory designated as a project of strategic importance by the European Commission (EC) due to its use of local supply chains.

A flurry of grid-scale BESS project progress totalling more than a combined 1.5GWh in the past week, from Renalfa in Bulgaria, Engie in Romania, Nala Renewables in Finland and Metlen in Greece.

Hithium will supply its latest 6.25MWh DC block products to engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company Solarpro, for projects in Eastern Europe.

Sungrow has signed a 2.4GWh strategic deployment agreement for battery storage systems in Europe with solar PV solutions provider SUNOTEC.

Renalfa IPP has secured a €315 million (US$367 million) financing package from an EBRD-led consortium to support a 1.6GW renewables, 3.3GWh BESS rollout in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and North Macedonia.

A new automated facility will need around 85% fewer employees per GWh of annual BESS manufacturing capacity, Bulgaria-based IPS said.