SolarPower Europe’s latest analysis shows that Europe will have installed 17.2 GWh of new battery energy storage systems (BESS) in 2023, up from 8.8 GW in 2022. Although this is the third year in a row in which the annual market has doubled, this much slower. Growth is expected in the coming years.
From pv magazine ESS news place
Europe’s BESS fleet continues to grow by leaps and bounds, but forecasts still fall short of the estimated capacity needed to unlock the continent’s renewable energy potential.
In its first analysis of the sector, PV industry association SolarPower Europe (SPE) found that 17.2 GWh of new BESS capacity was installed in Europe in 2023, an impressive increase of 94% compared to 2022.
At the end of 2023, the total European BESS fleet amounted to approximately 36 GWh. The residential segment accounted for 70% of this capacity, followed by large-scale battery systems (21%) and commercial and industrial systems (9%), according to the European Market Outlook for Battery Storage 2024-2028 report.
The dominance of home batteries was a result of the energy crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and gas supply disruptions. However, as indicated in Tuesday’s webinar hosted by SPE, this is set to change already this year as batteries become the main driver of deployment in Europe at scale, accounting for almost 11 GWh of new additions, of which 5 GWh in Italy.
In 2023, Germany led the market with 34% of the European market share, followed by Italy (22%) and the United Kingdom (15%). In concrete terms, Germany deployed 5.9 GWh last year, which represents a significant increase of 152%. Italy followed with a record 3.7 GWh (+86%), followed by Great Britain with 2.7 GWh (+91%).
Furthermore, Austria passed the one gigawatt hour milestone, while the Czech Republic came close with an installed capacity of around 900 MW. With the exception of Great Britain, all of the top five BESS markets in Europe were driven by the residential market segment.
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