On Friday 26 June, several European Union institutions, 22 Member States and industry representatives unveiled, on the sidelines of the ‘Energy’ Council in Luxembourg, an unprecedented tripartite agreement aimed at accelerating the deployment of energy storage solutions up to 45 GW between 2026 and 2028.
The agreement’s main objectives are as follows: - increase annual storage capacity by 20% compared with 2025, when it stood at around 12 GW; - reduce gas demand by making greater use of renewable energy, ensuring that stored energy supply reaches 10% of demand during peak periods (5% in 2025); - boost electrification to bring prices down (joint purchases amounting to 4.5 GW in 2028, 1.5 GWh of thermal storage capacity in the industrial sector); - increase battery energy storage from 9 to 24 GWh between 2026 and 2028.
The participating Member States will endeavour to remove barriers to the expansion of energy storage activities. They may provide financial support, in line with the CISAF framework governing State aid in clean technologies (see EUROPE 13667/26).
Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Sweden did not take part in the initiative. Paris takes the view that the contract does not make it possible to recognise the value of other sources of flexibility in storage.
The storage industry will provide annual estimates of its capacities, while energy-intensive industries will develop new storage solutions on their sites and communicate on their energy consumption.
The European Commission will help Member States develop financing schemes for storage projects, through financial institutions such as the Industrial Decarbonisation Bank.
Whereas storage capacities stood at 55 GW at the beginning of 2026 in the EU, needs are estimated at 200 GW by 2030.
See the tripartite agreement: https://aeur.eu/f/mm2 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)