Spain site energy BESS project bidding

How does Spain's pumped hydro energy storage compete with Bess?

Spain's pumped hydro energy storage competes directly against BESS, limiting the battery storage opportunity in wholesale markets. 3. Missing ancillary markets Unlike Great Britain or Texas, Spain never created ancillary service markets that net-zero systems need:

Does Spain need a Bess energy system?

Currently, Spain has 6.3GW of hydroelectric and 1GW of thermal storage capacity installed. In fact, the non-BESS storage capacity in Spain is higher than in any other European country. As a result, the need for BESS to integrate renewable energy sources into the electricity system is less immediate than in the UK, for example.

How will Spain support energy storage projects?

Spain’s Ministry of the Environment has formally launched its latest financial support scheme for energy storage, aiming to kickstart the deployment of 2.5-3.5GW of projects. The World’s Leading Energy Storage Event Series Unlike other storage conferences, proceeds from the event help to fund high quality journalism across our media titles.

How many Bess projects are there in Spain?

In March 2025, UK companies Renewco and Atlantica announced the development of up to 2.2GW of BESS projects across Spain. Other projects in the pipeline primarily involve storage co-located with solar or wind generation. According to BloombergNEF, the total capacity currently in the BESS pipeline is around 3GW.

Will Spain start a new energy storage scheme?

The Ministry of the Environment of Spain has launched its latest financial support scheme for energy storage, aiming to kickstart 2.5-3.5GW.

Why do we need battery energy storage systems in Spain?

Due to the large capacity of installed hydroelectric and thermal storage systems and the resilience of the Spanish power grid, the need for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in Spain has been relatively low. The lack of a clear regulatory framework for BESS has also hindered its development in Spain so far.