The first monthly global grid-scale BESS deployment figures for 2026 are in from Rho Motion, showing a year-on-year fall and China continuing to account for the majority of activity.

Australia’s Clean Energy Council has said that 2025 saw as many battery energy storage systems commissioned as in the last 8 years combined.

European Union countries deployed record-breaking battery storage capacity for the 12th consecutive year in 2025.

A staggering total of 18GW/65GWh of large-scale BESS came online in China last month, accounting for a quarter of the total capacity deployed across the globe in 2025.

There is a “healthy pipeline of projects in development” across Europe’s energy storage sector, but the technologies are as yet “significantly underutilised” below their potential.

China continues to dominate BESS deployments globally with 4.3GW/11.2GWh of deployments in May, including a 1GWh flow battery system.

Europe breaking battery storage deployment records, but more still needs to be done to accelerate uptake, according to SolarPower Europe.

A total of 10.9GWh of grid-scale BESS entered commercial operations in March, up 29% year-on-year and 3% month-on-month. 

The battery storage markets of Italy, Great Britain and Germany are the top three most attractive for investors in Europe, according to analysis firm Aurora Energy Research.

Although last year saw a dip in installations and projects submitted for planning, the BESS market in the UK continues to steam ahead with over 8GWh online and nearly 20GWh being built.