A consortium of lenders, including state-owned bank Oschadbank, has agreed to Ukraine’s biggest financing for battery energy storage system (BESS) projects to date.

Power generation and energy trading firm DTEK Group is targeting up to 500MW of BESS deployments in Ukraine, which it said are ‘key priority in order to ensure Ukrainian energy security’ in light of Russia’s attacks on its energy system.

State-owned utility and power generator Eesti Energia has completed and put into commercial operation the first large-scale BESS in Estonia.

KNESS has secured a €9.6 million (US$10.35 million) loan from Oschadbank for a battery storage project in Ukraine.

Battery storage played a crucial role in the Baltic region’s switch from Russia over to the Continental European grid over the weekend, coinciding with Lithuania launching a €100 million storage support scheme.

The government of Estonia will financially back a 500MW pumped hydro energy storage project to meet the country’s need for long-duration energy storage, as the Baltics prepare to disconnect from Russia’s grid this weekend.

System integrator Fluence will provide 200MW/400MWh of BESS for dependent power producer (IPP) DTEK’s projects in Ukraine.

Energy investment group DTEK discusses its large-scale BESS in Ukraine and Poland as well as the ongoing war with Russia.

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