Massive Storage Pipelines Across the EU
According to Eurelectric's Power Barometer 2026, the European Union is witnessing unprecedented planning for energy storage, although operational deployment faces significant bottlenecks. Germany leads the EU storage planning with a staggering 480 GW in its pipeline, followed by Italy with 277 GW and Poland with 83 GW. Despite these ambitious pipelines, total large-scale storage in operation across the EU reached only 64 GW in 2025.
Even with 78 GW of committed investments, the projected operational capacity of 142 GW falls significantly short of the 200 GW EU target for 2030. This gap highlights the urgent need to accelerate project realization as variable renewables surge; in July 2026 alone, EU solar production exceeded 55 TWh, and combined with wind, variable renewables generated over 90 TWh, approaching 40% of the EU energy mix.
The Balkan Contrast: Greece vs. Bulgaria
The disparity between planning and execution is starkly visible in the Balkans. Greece boasts a planned energy storage pipeline of 27 GW, ranking 6th in Europe. However, its operational battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity is currently limited to just 0.7 GW. Greek projects face severe grid congestion, high CAPEX, and a lack of long-term guaranteed revenue mechanisms.
While Greece plans 27 GW, its neighbor Bulgaria has already surpassed 5.4 GW of operational battery capacity, providing immediate flexibility to its transmission system.
In sharp contrast, neighboring Bulgaria has emerged as a regional leader, surpassing 5.4 GW of operational battery capacity. This represents 22.8% of its total installed power capacity, the highest share globally. Bulgaria's success is driven by robust EU funding via the Recovery and Resilience scheme's RESTORE programme and clear national targets aiming for 10 GW of energy storage.
Source: B2Green
This article was assisted by AI analysis. Please refer to the original source for official information.