The EU's energy ministers on Wednesday debated the bloc's growing dependence on China-made storage during an official gathering in Cyprus, as the rapid expansion of wind and solar power continues to outpace the development of infrastructure to store it.
The bloc is excelling at producing clean power, but insufficient storage infrastructure to keep excess renewables is creating fears of clean power congestion, power grid instability and price volatility across the bloc.
Europe's current predicament raises concerns over achieving green autonomy but at the expense of external dependencies — especially after the Russian gas shock and the havoc triggered by the war in the Middle East has weighed an additional €35 billion to the bloc's finances since the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.
Chinese firms now control the vast majority of Europe’s battery energy storage system market, accounting for more than 80% of the residential storage segment and nearly 88% of lithium-ion battery imports, according to global research data firm Wood Mackenzie.
During the steering discussions by the EU Cyprus Presidency, ministers recognised that lithium-ion batteries are dominant, but “diverse storage technologies” were approved, with several EU countries backing pumped hydro and thermal storage solutions as equally important options, a document seen by Euronews reveals.
