The situation and uncertainty around grid connections and grid fees in Germany is evolving, possibly enabling market participants to look beyond the August 2029 grid fee exemption cut-off date – although uncertainty is still very high.
BayWa r.e. will manage and maintain Germany’s largest operational BESS when it comes online later this year, while Terra One has started building a smaller project in the same state.
SSE Renewables, Matrix Renewables, Drax and Voltaria have all progressed large-scale BESS projects in the UK, all-in-all totalling 1.8GWh of new capacity.
BESS platform NGEN has started building an 85M/170MWh BESS in Austria, while Foresight Group and the EBRD have invested in development platforms in Germany and Lithuania.
Terna, the transmission system operator (TSO) of Italy, has approved the grid connection for a 500MW/3GWh BESS project. Meanwhile several smaller projects have progressed across the rest of Europe.
We caught up with the CEO of owner-operator BW ESS, Erik Strømsø, about the firm’s next deployment plans, tolling trends, procurement and LDES, with its 11.5-hour Bannaby BESS in Australia further proof of lithium-ion’s long-duration potential.
How to enable bankability for large-scale BESS projects was the main topic of the opening panel discussion at the Energy Storage Summit 2026 which kicked off today (24 February).
2025 saw genuinely large-scale BESS projects start construction in Germany, strengthening confidence among stakeholders. But significant challenges remain around grid connection, connection agreements and access to revenue streams, an operator said.
In a surprising move, the North American development arm of Engie has asked the California Energy Commission (CEC) to pause the review of its Compass Energy Storage project destined for Orange County, in order to assess alternative development sites.
