The launch of a new Energy Storage Coalition has been welcomed by European Commission energy commissioner Kadri Simson.

The Ministry of Energy in Hungary will provide grants for the deployment of energy storage projects, with some 1GWh targeted by 2025.

Canada-based renewable energy firm Boralex has turned on a 3.3MWh battery storage unit attached to a wind farm in France.

A battery storage subsidiary of maritime company BW Group has committed to investing in Swedish energy storage developer Ingrid Capacity.

Thermal energy storage solution firms Brenmiller and Kraftblock have agreed to deploy large-scale commercial projects for large European utilities, totalling 9GWh and 150MWh respectively.

The Belgium arm of France-headquartered multinational utility Engie is proposing three battery storage projects totalling 380MW.

ElevenEs has opened a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) gigafactory in Serbia, which it claimed is the first in Europe.

UK battery storage developer Field Energy has announced plans to expand into Italy, a market where the utility-scale sector is set to grow substantially from a negligible base today.

Europe reached 4.5GW of battery storage capacity last year and could hit 95GW by 2050, according to figures from LCP Delta and Aurora Energy Research respectively.

Kadri Simson has described energy storage as vital for the energy transition, yet often “overlooked” in plans and strategies.