Urgent Priorities for European Electrification

In her September 16, 2026 State of the Union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen identified energy storage and grid connections as critical bottlenecks for the EU's 2040 electrification goals. She highlighted that 480 GW of renewable capacity is currently waiting for grid connection, despite 80 GW being installed in 2025 alone. To achieve the goal of doubling the electricity share by 2040, von der Leyen emphasized that faster grid connections and 'more storage' are urgent priorities. System flexibility, heavily reliant on storage, is targeted to account for 25% of the estimated €130 billion per year in savings by 2030. To support this, the Commission announced a €1.5 billion Battery Booster Package dedicated to battery production and its value chain.

Major BESS Deployments in Central and Eastern Europe

Aligning with this EU-wide push, significant battery energy storage projects are advancing across Central and Eastern Europe. In Hungary, Alpiq inaugurated a €64 million hybrid power plant in Csepel, Budapest. The facility combines gas-fired generation with a 10 MWh BESS to provide grid flexibility, introducing a 'zero must-run' hybrid concept to reduce gas consumption and support solar integration. Additionally, E.ON has successfully installed four new BESS units across the country to bolster local grid resilience.

Expanding Portfolios in Poland and Lithuania

In Poland, French energy major Engie, via its subsidiary Engie Zielona Energia, acquired a 438MW/876MWh BESS project in Działoszyn. This acquisition brings Engie's Polish BESS portfolio to over 2.1 GWh, with the project expected to reach ready-to-build status in Q4 2026. Meanwhile, in Lithuania, energy tech company Inion Software launched a 160MW virtual power plant (VPP). The VPP aggregates solar, wind, BESS, and other distributed energy resources across 30 assets, participating in the national electricity balancing market and automatically adjusting operations based on real-time trading signals and pricing events.

Source: EuropaWire / CE Energy News / Energy-Storage.news / assoelettrica.it

This article was assisted by AI analysis. Please refer to the original source for official information.