Europe’s battery market shrunk year-on-year in 2019.

That’s the suggestion from the European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE) and research consultancy Delta-EE, which said this was a result of a lack of regulation and a saturated market.

The report found the European market grew by only 1GWh in 2019, a significant slowdown compared with 2018, when the energy storage market soared by 1.47GWh.

Robin Adey-Johnson, Energy Storage and Flexibility Analyst at Delta-EE said: “Storage remains a young market and the regulatory landscape is trying to catch up. So, year-on-year fluctuations in market growth are not unexpected. But we see strong underlying drivers and we expect further market expansion in the early 2020s as regulation stabilises and revenue streams mature.”

Researchers expect that the ‘Clean Energy for All Europeans’ package (CEP) could bolster the regulatory framework for energy storage across Europe and give a boost to market growth in the early 2020s.

Patrick Clerens, EASE Secretary General said: “The message is clear: even if energy storage is a key enabler of the energy transition and clearly seen as a major tool to achieve the emissions targets linked to the Paris agreement, more support is needed.

“Customers, governments and the energy industry are keen to see the market develop and provide more value to the energy system. The ‘Clean Energy for All Europeans’ Package (CEP) is an important step in this process by creating, amongst other things, a clear definition for storage, which should allow energy storage to reach its full potential fast.”