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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.
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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.
“Enhancing our electricity storage capacity is a critical tool for ensuring grid stability and providing the non-fossil flexibility required to reduce and stabilise energy prices for all Europeans,” Cypriot Energy Minister Michael Damianos told reporters.
Lithuanian energy minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas said that investing in storage was the way forward, recalling Vilnius’ recent installation of more than 1 gigawatt of storage capacities, capable of powering roughly 750,000 to 1 million homes.
Storage and electrification
EU leaders have been touting the importance of storage infrastructure as a foundation for the EU’s energy transition and competitiveness push. Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen told a conference last October that 2024 marked a record year for storage installations, with 12 gigawatts of capacity added, even if such achievements were deemed insufficient.
Overall, energy ministers backed boosting storage deployment to keep both climate credibility and industrial competitiveness, as the bloc aims to reach climate neutrality by 2050. But to stand a chance of success, the electrification of the transport sector and industry will be crucial alongside revamped power grids.
However, the electrification quest will not come without a political struggle, as the European Commission and EU agencies seek stronger supranational governance, while many national governments remain protective of their energy sovereignty.
Sweden, for instance, has recently announced plans to halt construction of a new power cable to Denmark. Stockholm is against a Commission proposal to use revenues from electricity congestion charges to revamp the bloc’s electricity infrastructure.
“The EU should not receive Swedes’ electricity money. At the moment, Brussels is not listening to us. That’s why we are pausing plans for new cables for power exports,” Swedish energy minister Ebba Busch said on 11 May.
Damianos, currently serving as the mediator under the EU Cyprus Presidency, said on Wednesday that coordinated action among member states and accelerated electrification are “essential to mitigating the risks” associated with the EU’s reliance on imported fossil fuels.
Storage as an industrial strategic sector
During talks in Cyprus, ministers framed storage as a strategic manufacturing sector, citing the bloc’s Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) adopted in 2024 and designed to boost domestic manufacturing of clean technologies, including storage.
This mirrors the EU’s response to increased reliance on China for batteries and the competitive pressure created by the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act, and ultimately the bloc’s push for greater competitiveness, encouraged by former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Analysts say Europe could reduce its strategic dependence on China in clean energy industries, but replacing Beijing across the entire supply chain is probably unrealistic within the next decade. Instead, they argue that the EU’s more realistic goal is selective de-risking rather than full independence.
“While there has been a considerable drop-off in investments by Chinese energy companies since the late 2010s, as well as greater scrutiny of Chinese foreign direct investment in general, the legacy of Chinese involvement in the energy system persists,” reads a paper from the EU Institute for Security Studies.
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