Spain is preparing for a major expansion in battery energy storage and has now become the world’s second-largest market for project development, trailing only the United States.
According to EY Infrastructure Compass 2025: The Development of Batteries and Other Energy Storage Systems in Spain, the country is developing around 16 GW of battery energy storage system (BESS) projects through 2030 — accounting for nearly 29% of the 55 GW estimated globally. The report, produced by EY-Parthenon’s Infrastructure team and published by EY Insights, highlights Spain’s growing role in the global energy transition.
Currently, Spain operates about 7 GW of storage capacity, primarily hydroelectric. The National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) targets 22.5 GW of total capacity by 2030, combining batteries, pumped hydro, and thermal storage linked to concentrated solar power (CSP).
EY estimates that Spain’s energy storage market value has grown from USD 417 million in 2019 to a projected USD 2.1 billion by 2029. The residential and commercial sectors are expanding rapidly, with annual growth rates approaching 30%, driven by increasing adoption of self-consumption solar-plus-storage systems.
While hydro remains foundational, future capacity growth will increasingly depend on lithium-ion batteries and emerging technologies such as hydrogen and vanadium flow systems. One of the strongest enablers has been cost reduction — lithium-ion prices have dropped about 90% since 2010, reaching roughly USD 115 per kWh in 2024, with further declines expected to accelerate deployment.
The report also underscores pumped-hydro storage as a long-term strategic investment. For major utilities, modernising and expanding pumped hydro remains crucial for grid stability and seasonal balancing. While batteries offer short-term flexibility, pumped hydro — already contributing about 6 GW — provides large-scale resilience with a long operational lifespan and low degradation rates, making it vital for integrating renewable energy sources.
Public support is reinforcing this momentum. Spain’s Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has introduced a €750 million programme to strengthen domestic battery manufacturing and an additional €699 million in EU funding to deploy up to 3.5 GW of new storage capacity.
Together, these initiatives position Spain as a leading hub in Europe’s fast-evolving energy storage landscape, aligning industrial policy, innovation, and decarbonization goals toward a more resilient and sustainable energy future.
