The European energy storage market has been incredibly hot lately.
In just a few days, two large orders from Chinese companies were secured, totaling nearly 10 GWh. This figure is substantial in the European market, roughly equivalent to the annual new energy storage capacity of a medium-sized country. Such order density is unusual for Chinese energy storage companies.
More importantly, these large orders are accompanied by accelerated policy support. Just recently, the European Commission officially approved Romania's €150 million energy storage subsidy program to support at least 2174 MWh of energy storage projects.
With increasing orders and strengthened policies, market sentiment is clearly heating up.
So, is the European energy storage market truly about to enter a period of explosive growth? For Chinese energy storage companies, is this merely a temporary surge in projects, or is it the opening of a long-term window for overseas expansion?
01. Chinese Energy Storage Companies Secure Numerous European Orders, Expanding Overseas as a Group
According to Renewables Now, Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd. has officially signed a framework agreement with Swiss developer Delta Capacity (BESS) to supply 1GWh of its PowerTitan 2.0 energy storage system for projects scheduled for deployment this year. This signifies a further expansion of Sungrow's presence in the European energy storage market.
In fact, beyond these orders, Sungrow is also simultaneously increasing its localization efforts.
In February of this year, the company announced plans to build its first production base in Europe. Located in Wałbrzych, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, the factory covers approximately 65,400 square meters and represents a total investment of approximately €230 million. Upon completion, the project will have an annual inverter production capacity of 20GW and an annual energy storage system production capacity of 12.5GWh.
In contrast, the recent orders secured by RPL (Renewable Energy Sources) are even more groundbreaking.
At the recent International Renewable Energy Exhibition in Italy, RPL signed supply agreements with seven European partners. According to the agreement, the company will deliver a total of 8.3 GWh of energy storage systems to the European market over the next two years and provide integrated energy storage solutions for multiple large-scale projects.
This batch of orders is seen by the industry as a key breakthrough for Repulse Energy in the European large-scale energy storage market. Previously, this battery manufacturer was primarily known for its residential energy storage cell business. The rapid growth in large-scale energy storage orders signifies that it is opening up new market opportunities in the European large-scale energy storage sector.
Since the beginning of 2026, Chinese energy storage companies have been making a series of appearances in the European market.
In January, CATL signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with Schroders Greencoat and Lochpine Capital. According to the agreement, this cooperation will fully leverage the advantages of all parties in green energy infrastructure and technology to gradually promote the construction of renewable energy storage projects with a total capacity of up to 10 GWh in Europe.
In February, Haichen Energy Storage and renewable energy solutions provider KNESS Group reached a strategic cooperation agreement in Warsaw, Poland. According to the plan, both parties will focus their cooperation on the Ukrainian market, involving energy storage system products with different configurations such as 6.25MWh and 5MWh. The first batch of approximately 400MWh of equipment is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2026.
Concurrently, Yongtai Digital Energy also made inroads into the Eastern European market, successfully signing a 135MW/270MWh stand-alone energy storage project in Bucharest with Metropolitan Energy SRL, a leading energy group in Romania.
These successive collaborations and orders reflect an increasingly clear trend: Europe is becoming one of the most important destinations for Chinese energy storage companies going global.
02. Why is Energy Storage "Hot" in Europe? Three Forces Driving Market Explosion
The fact that Chinese energy storage companies are turning their attention to Europe is not accidental; rather, it reflects a significant shift in the market's fundamentals.
The most direct driving force is the continued expansion of renewable energy installations.
Over the past three years, Europe's energy transition has clearly accelerated. According to data from the European Solar Alliance, Europe's new photovoltaic (PV) installations will reach approximately 65.1 GW in 2025, with renewable energy accounting for an increasingly larger share of the power system.
This change is already very evident in the power generation structure. Related data shows that in June 2025, PV power generation in the EU accounted for 22%, surpassing nuclear power for the first time; if wind power is added, the combined share of wind and solar power generation has exceeded 30%. In countries like Germany and Spain, PV and wind power have become important components of the electricity supply.
However, with the increasing proportion of renewable energy, the volatility of the power system is also amplified.
PV and wind power are inherently intermittent. When a large amount of renewable energy is connected to the grid, photovoltaic (PV) power generation is concentrated during the day, leading to a significant increase in power supply in a short period and a rapid drop in electricity prices. However, in the evening and at night, PV output decreases while electricity demand rises, forcing the power system to rely on higher-cost power sources to compensate. This structural contradiction of "daytime surplus and nighttime shortage" has led to a rapid increase in the grid's demand for energy storage.
If the expansion of renewable energy is the foundation of demand, then continued policy support has further amplified this trend.
Germany took the lead, launching its first special tender for energy storage in 2026, planning to add 18GW of energy storage capacity, focusing on supporting long-duration grid-side energy storage and grid-based energy storage projects, and providing subsidies of up to 25% on equipment investment for eligible projects. Spain added €818 million in energy storage subsidies, expecting to add 12GW of energy storage capacity in 2026. Romania's €150 million energy storage subsidy plan has also been approved by the EU to support the construction of at least 2174MWh of new energy storage facilities.
In addition to subsidies and tenders, mandatory energy storage allocation is gradually becoming the new normal for renewable energy projects in Europe.
Currently, major markets such as Germany, France, Italy, and Spain have all introduced policies requiring energy storage configurations for newly built ground-mounted or distributed photovoltaic (PV) projects. Some regions even consider energy storage a crucial prerequisite for grid connection. For example, Hungary's "zero feed-in" rule mandates that new PV projects must be equipped with energy storage to prevent backfeeding.
At the market level, a more subtle change is emerging: negative electricity prices are becoming increasingly frequent. In electricity markets like Germany and the Netherlands, when PV and wind power output is excessive, electricity prices sometimes drop to zero or even negative values. For energy storage projects, this presents new business opportunities: charging during periods of low or even negative prices and discharging during periods of rising prices, profiting from the price difference.
With the combined forces of grid demand driven by renewable energy expansion, policy support, and market mechanisms, the growth logic of the European energy storage market is becoming increasingly clear.
In other words, the surge in European energy storage is not accidental, but an inevitable result of the energy transition entering a new phase.
