Most countries aim to diversify their energy sources and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Batteries are at the heart of the transition to renewable energy. They determine how much electricity a storage system can hold and feed into the power grid.
Some countries have brought battery capacities online in recent years, while others have unveiled pipelines by making investments to expand their own capacities.
Which countries have the highest operational battery capacity in Europe? Which countries emerge as leaders when the pipeline is included?
According to Ember’in Europe and Turkey Electricity Review 2026 reports, Germany is Europe’'s leader with 2.8 gigawatts (GW) in operational battery capacity, followed by Italy (2 GW).
A second group is between 0.5 GW and 1 GW: Ireland (0.92 GW), Sweden (0.75 GW), Bulgaria (0.56 GW) and France (0.52 GW).
Romania (0.49 GW), Belgium (0.47 GW), Finland (0.39 GW), the Netherlands (0.39 GW) and Turkey (0.21 GW) complete the ranking below 0.5 GW’.
No country matches ’'s battery targets
When the project lines are included, a very different picture emerges and Turkey stands out as the most ambitious country in Europe ’ in terms of battery expansion.
The project line is calculated as the sum of the following categories: under construction, permitted and announced.
Turkey’'s 32.8 GW’ project pipeline is more than three times that of its closest competitors, Germany (10.5 GW), Poland (10.4 GW) and Italy (10.2 GW).
Ufuk Alparslan, regional leader of Ember’in and author of the Turkish Electricity Magazine 2026’, told Euronews Business’: The main success of the “ policy came when the regulator opened unlimited grid capacity for wind and solar projects integrated into storage, which attracted investors.’
Pipelines are of course not guaranteed; However, if these investment plans are implemented, they will be decisive in shaping the expected total capacity. This will make Turkey ’ the leader in Europe ’ with a total battery capacity of 32.97 GW.
This will be followed by Germany (13.26 GW), Italy (12.15 GW) and Poland (10.42 GW), each accounting for roughly a third of Turkey's total.
Romania, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium will also see significant improvements in battery capacity, according to Ember’; But it's still modest compared to the first four countries.
Reasons behind the Great Expansion
Dr Beatrice Petrovich, senior energy analyst at Ember’ and author of the European Electricity Review 2026’, emphasized that falling battery prices have led to rapid battery storage deployments across Europe.
Euronews Business’a said: “Battery costs on grid scale, 2024According to ’ %With a decline of 45’, 2025’te fell to a record low, and in the last decade it has been about %The annual cost of 20’ continued its downward trend. As the battery economy evolves, projects become increasingly profitable without subsidies.”
Petrovich also noted that the scale of operational and future battery fleets across European countries ultimately depends on policy preferences, while technology and economy are now largely in place.
“Stable policy frameworks unlock battery potential because they mean predictable revenue streams that allow project developers to attract capital, ” said.
Petrovich explained that several EU countries, including Bulgaria, Italy and Spain, have already shown how policies can accelerate deployment.
“Germany also shows how policy uncertainty can slow progress. The proposed preferential treatment for gas in auxiliary power tenders and uncertainty over changes in the grid fee undermine investor confidence, ” added.
France lags behind in battery expansion
France will more than double its capacity to 1.12 GW’. However, this will leave him second to last among the 16 countries on the list, among the lowest in .
Nuclear power is at the heart of ’'s energy mix, which may help explain why its claims about batteries remain limited. Nuclear Energy AB’'s Energy Mixture Creating ’sini, France %He leads the block with 40. According to Ember’, France will produce electricity in 2025. ’unu was made up of nuclear energy.
Can the ’ pipeline be built in Turkey?
Alparslan stated that if a power plant project is approved and an associate license is obtained, only the network capacity is guaranteed. While securing grid capacity is one of the biggest hurdles for new installations, it does not guarantee that the project will come into play.
Alparslan, Euronews Business’a said: “Investors are eager to complete these projects. The government's decision to extend the timeline will determine how much of the planned capacity will be realized.”
“ added that if these projects cannot be implemented after the expansion, they will occupy existing grid capacity and effectively block new wind and solar installations.
By the end of 2025, Turkey’'s total installed wind and solar capacity reached 40 GW’. Accordingly, the 33 GW ’ battery project pipeline represents the country's current wind and solar capacity. %That's 83’.
However, the report states that batteries have an average storage time of 2.5 hours worldwide, while most projects in Turkey’ have storage times as short as about an hour.
