Sumit Joshi, director at consultancy Baringa, agreed that the UK is a particular case of grid connections reform driving M&A, but said that across the European market more broadly there is a more fundamental market shift happening.
“Some of the recent pick up in M&A activity is due to more certainty around grid connections, but I would also say investors are moving towards portfolio shaping rather than any market stress type conditions,” Joshi told Energy-Storage.news.
Pick-up in European M&A activity
Just based on publicly available information, Q1 2026 saw 50 large-scale BESS transactions, up materially compared to late 2025, he said.
But investors are becoming more focused on risk mitigation and revenue certainty. Combined with greater interest in the industry, this is resulting in more projects coming to market, Joshi added:
