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.
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.
Rolls-Royce and Fluence have secured BESS orders in Latvia and Poland, respectively, while CATL has partnered with Merus Power for 3GWh of deployments across Northern Europe.
EDF Power Solutions has commissioned a 50MW/120MWh BESS project in Poland, Eurus has done the same in Hungary, while NGEN and Aretis Group have financed and enlisted optimisers (respectively) for projects in Hungary, Romania, Poland, Slovenia and Latvia.
Hungary is entering a new phase of its energy transition, opening up new opportunities for energy storage investment. But bankability is still a challenge, so equity investment is needed, writes lawyer Daniel Orosz.
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.
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.
The results of Poland’s capacity market (CM) were announced this week, with fewer awards to BESS than last year because of a reduction in the technology’s de-rating factor.
The Ministry of the Environment in Poland has shortlisted projects for an energy storage capex support programme totalling 4.15 billion PLN (c.€1 billion), with 183 eligible to progress to the next round.
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.
