EV batteries dwarf grid storage capacity in Europe, says Bruegel

Europe’s stationary battery storage capacity reached roughly 60 GWh in 2024, spread across residential, commercial and industrial, and utility-scale installations, according to Bruegel’s newly published “European Clean Tech Atlas.”

The think tank said this is enough to supply or absorb the European grid’s average power output for about 15 minutes.

More recent data from SolarPower Europe puts cumulative European battery storage capacity above 100 GWh by the end of 2025, following 36 GWh of new installations that year – a 48% increase over 2024.

Brussels-based Bruegel said an estimated 600 GWh of battery capacity is already installed across Europe’s electric vehicle fleet, based on extrapolations from the International Energy Agency’s “Global EV Outlook.”

Its report said this mobile capacity, if fully connected to the grid, could theoretically supply continuous power to the European grid for almost two hours, though it noted this remains a theoretical estimate dependent on vehicle-to-grid technology and smart integration that are still under development.

Household battery sales in Europe surged in 2023 as energy prices rose and have remained strong since, according to Bruegel. Residential systems account for a little over half of the connected storage market, with utility-scale, grid-connected batteries continuing to grow year-on-year and increasingly reaching hundreds of megawatt-hours in individual project capacity.

SolarPower Europe has separately called for a tenfold increase in Europe’s stationary battery fleet by 2030, targeting 500 GWH to 780 GWh of capacity to support a fully renewable-based energy system, a scale still far short of the mobile capacity already sitting untapped in the region’s EV fleet.