The EU installed 27.1 GWh of battery storage in 2025, 45 percent more than the year before, and utility-scale systems took 55 percent of it. The first half of 2026 is running ahead of that pace.
eMOBINO tracks this market for one reason: to know where the next contract is, and who is buying it. This briefing is the public part of that work. It covers the 2025 baseline, how 2026 is going, the three buyer segments, eight country routes and the open tender pipeline.
The detailed tender list is not in it. That list is what we work through with clients, segment by segment.
2025 set the baseline, and it was a utility-scale year
The 27.1 GWh figure is commissioned capacity across all segments in the EU-27, not pipeline. For the first time, grid-connected utility-scale systems carried the growth and took more than half of the year's additions. The residential segment softened as retail power prices and incentives came down, and commercial and industrial storage grew, but less than the market had expected.
That shift matters for anyone entering the market. The volume is moving towards buyers who evaluate bankability, warranties and grid access, not towards installers selling kilowatt-hours to households.
2026 is running ahead of 2025
The largest EU market added about 76 percent more storage capacity in the first half of 2026 than in the first half of 2025, close to its entire 2025 total in six months. Across Europe, utility-scale commissioning in the first quarter of 2026 was more than double the first quarter of 2025, above 6.5 GWh in three months.
Growth is uneven. One large market slowed sharply over the last twelve months while several others accelerated, and the auctions now running already contract capacity for 2028 and 2029.
Our year-end range for the EU-27 is 40 to 55 GWh in 2026. This is eMOBINO's own estimate, not a published figure, built from first-half run rates and last year's seasonality. It means roughly 1.5 to 2 times the 2025 volume, with utility-scale carrying most of the increase.
Three segments, three different purchase decisions
The same battery is bought for three different reasons, and the preparation for each is different.
- Grid-scale. Utilities and developers buy bankable delivery guarantees and a proven route to grid connection, not a spec sheet. References and financial guarantees already in place decide who gets shortlisted.
- Commercial and industrial. Factories, depots and charging sites need a system sized to their load and their connection limit. Oversizing against a single revenue stream is the common mistake, and fast, credible feasibility work is what wins here.
- Residential. The business case runs through the installer channel and the household tariff, not the cell specification.
Eight countries, eight different doors to the customer
Country priorities follow the same logic: where the segment you serve is actually buying.
- Germany. Multiple open supply and project leads in C&I and grid-scale, plus VAT relief for eligible home batteries.
- Poland. Utility component tenders, storage EPC packages and municipal storage programmes running in parallel.
- Italy. Capacity auctions already contract storage for 2028, and the grid operator has flagged further need.
- Spain. A capacity market approved in 2026 and hundreds of negative-price hours make the arbitrage case for grid-scale and C&I storage.
- Romania. The widest daily price spreads in the EU, no capacity market, and a grant call for standalone storage open this autumn.
- Netherlands. Grid congestion makes the connection limit the buying trigger for C&I and charging sites, ahead of price arbitrage.
- Sweden. Tax relief for storing self-generated electricity; installers hold the residential channel.
- Bulgaria. A grant-supported storage pipeline where funded projects now need delivery, commissioning and service.
The open pipeline closes within weeks
This week we re-verified the open EU procurement list: dozens of live tenders, most closing within about a month. The scope ranges from BESS supply and EPC or design-and-build contracts to multi-year frameworks and PV-plus-storage packages, across several member states. The segment mix spans grid-scale frameworks, C&I and public-sector storage, and municipal storage programmes.
For each notice we hold the buyer, the scope and the deadline. Which of them a supplier can actually win is decided by segment fit, not by the size of the market.
The growth number tells you the market is moving. Segment fit tells you where you can enter it.
How eMOBINO works with this market
eMOBINO provides EU BESS market intelligence for suppliers, developers and EPCs: segment and country screening, live tender tracking and bid or no-bid reviews. On the engineering side, the team delivers C&I feasibility, load-based sizing and system architecture, and technical bid support within a qualified delivery team. Cross-border sourcing and partner review run through eMOBINO Gateway.
If your product or delivery capability fits one of these segments, write to info@emobino.com. In a first conversation we walk through the current tender list and where you fit in it.
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References
- SolarPower Europe, EU Battery Storage Market Review 2025, 28 January 2026
- EASE and LCP Delta, European Market Monitor on Energy Storage, 2026 editions
- Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, European grid-scale storage additions, Q1 2026
- European Commission, State aid decision SA.112483 on Spain's capacity mechanism, 29 May 2026
- European Commission, State aid approval of Romania's standalone storage scheme, March 2026
