Olga Sypula, VP and regional director for Central Europe at developer and IPP European Energy, shares her views on the key trends, opportunities and challenges across the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) energy storage market.

The largest grid-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) project in the Czech Republic has gone online, supplied by a company invested in by lithium-ion OEM CATL. 

The Czech Republic’s fourth pumped hydro energy storage plant is to be built within an existing hydropower complex, converting convention run-of-river into reversible units, creating 750MWh of energy storage capacity.

Energy trading firm Second Foundation is building three grid-scale BESS projects in the Czech Republic totalling 307MW this year, with the technology provided by local firm Gaz Energy.

Vertically integrated utilities Eneco and EPH will build a 50MW/200MWh BESS in the Netherlands via a 50:50 joint venture.

The European Commission has given the go-ahead to a scheme in Czechia that will support the deployment of 1.5GWh of energy storage projects.