SolarPower Europe’s EU Battery Storage Market Review 2025 has re[ported that the EU installed 27.1GWh of new battery energy storage systems (BESS), marking the twelfth consecutive year of record growth.

The latest additions take the operational capacity to 77.3GWh at the end of 2025. As expected, growth picked up its pace in 2025 with 45 per cent increase in annual installations, after the temporary slowdown in 2024.

Interestingly, a fundamental shift occurred in 2025: utility-scale batteries became the main engine for growth, delivering 55 per cent of all new capacity. Improved market conditions and policy support led to a record year for large-scale systems, while distributed segments continue to face persistent barriers. For the first time, behind-the-meter systems contributed less than half of annual additions, as growth in the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment was not sufficient to compensate for the decline in residential installations.

Meanwhile, the UK rebounded strongly, deploying 5GWh of batteries in 2025 by itself, and nearing 16GWh of total installed capacity. Supported by strong policy framework and favourable market conditions.

With the EU Germany and Italy led the EU battery storage market. Bulgaria became the fastest-growing market, advancing to third place, while the Netherlands and Spain completed the top five ranking. The bar for entering the top five rose sharply: connecting substantial volumes of gridscale batteries became essential; and reaching the GWh-scale is no longer sufficient.

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