The deadline has now passed for Bulgaria’s EU-backed support scheme for standalone energy storage, and the bids submitted amount to four times the available capital available.

The energy ministries of Bulgaria and Romania have both revealed the results of EU-backed tenders for renewables and energy storage, with gigawatts of energy storage being supported.

Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto has signed a decree allowing Italy to proceed with its energy storage capacity market auction, known as MACSE, in the first half of 2025.

Lithuania can move ahead with a scheme to provide €180 million (US$200 million) in grants to energy storage projects after it was approved by the EU.

The EU could save €9 billion a year in gas costs by deploying BESS to capture excess wind and solar, according to think tank Ember.

The EU’s security requirements for energy assets including energy storage are increasing as the risks grow, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

Hungary’s subsidy scheme for energy storage will drive huge growth in BESS deployments over the next few years.

Supply chain risk platform Infyos discusses its research into forced and child labour in the battery supply chain, suppliers risk of exposure to it and what business risks that could entail for those in the ESS industry – particularly around the EU Batteries Regulation.

DNO and IPP Electrica has received €3.4 million (US$3.8 million) in EU grants for a c.70MWh BESS project it will build in Romania.

Recognition of the role energy storage must play in Europe’s energy transition has been long overdue. Now that it has arrived, the hard work begins, write Julian Jansen and Lars Stephan of system integrator Fluence.