Batteries and demand flexibility are ready to scale across the EU

The report analyzes the potential for batteries and demand flexibility from electric vehicles (EVs) and heat pumps to replace fossil-based grid balancing in the EU by 2030. It projects a significant increase in battery capacity and the ability of smart charging and heating to reduce peak demand and grid strain, provided that regulatory barriers are removed and smart meter rollout is accelerated.

• The EU battery fleet is projected to grow fourfold between 2025 and 2030, increasing from 37 GW to 178 GW. This growth would allow batteries to provide over 80% of the power that all EU gas power plants combined can generate in a single hour by 2030, compared to approximately 20% in 2025.
• Utility-scale batteries are expected to see the most significant growth, with capacity projected to rise from 12 GW in 2025 to 107 GW by 2030. By 2030, utility-scale batteries could provide short-term flexibility in the EU at a cost 20% lower than new gas peakers.
• Behind-the-meter batteries are projected to double by 2030, helping to reduce distribution grid bottlenecks. In Germany, where capacity could increase from 14 GW in 2025 to over 30 GW by 2030, these batteries could shift up to 25% of daily rooftop solar generation by 2030.
• Electric vehicles (EVs) could make up 16% of the EU road fleet by 2030, totaling 39 million vehicles. Up to 50% of these (19.6 million) could be enabled for smart charging, which would allow them to absorb approximately 7% of peak wind and utility-scale solar generation by 2030.
• Heat pump installations could exceed 40 million by 2030. With supportive policies, 15% of heat pump demand could be shifted to periods of high renewable output, potentially reducing EU peak demand by 3% by 2030.
• The rollout of smart meters is a critical enabler for demand flexibility, but adoption is uneven across the EU. While penetration exceeds 90% in France, Italy, and Spain, it remains low in other countries, such as Germany, where it was 5.5% by the end of 2025.

APA

Petrovich, B., & Geneletti, G. (2026). Batteries and demand flexibility are ready to scale across the EU. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2026/06/Batteries-and-demand-flexibility-are-ready-to-scale-across-the-EU-3.pdf

Chicago

Petrovich, Beatrice, and Gianluca Geneletti. Batteries and demand flexibility are ready to scale across the EU. Ember, 2026. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2026/06/Batteries-and-demand-flexibility-are-ready-to-scale-across-the-EU-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Petrovich |first1=Beatrice |last2=Geneletti |first2=Gianluca |title=Batteries and demand flexibility are ready to scale across the EU |publisher=Ember |date=24 June 2026 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2026/06/Batteries-and-demand-flexibility-are-ready-to-scale-across-the-EU-3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{petrovich2026batteries, author = {Petrovich, Beatrice and Geneletti, Gianluca}, title = {{Batteries and demand flexibility are ready to scale across the EU}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2026/06/Batteries-and-demand-flexibility-are-ready-to-scale-across-the-EU-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }