Recently, Marco, the person in charge of a photovoltaic power plant in northern Italy, received an urgent notice - the local power grid company requires the power plant to complete the installation of supporting energy storage systems within the next three months, otherwise it will face the risk of power rationing during lunchtime. This is not an isolated case, but a common pressure of 46.61GW of photovoltaic installed capacity across Italy. As of June 30, 2026, there are 943729 sets of electrochemical energy storage systems that are compatible with renewable energy, with a cumulative capacity of 11.94GWh. Energy storage is transitioning from optional to standard.

The market thickness behind millions of systems

As of the end of June 2026, the number of energy storage systems in Italy is approaching the milestone of one million units, with a total power of 6GW. In June 2026 alone, 4656 new units and 73.51MWh were added. These increments do not come from a few mega projects, but are the result of continuous deployment in distributed photovoltaic distribution and storage scenarios. Energy storage has evolved from a demonstration project to a comprehensive infrastructure covering household use, industry and commerce, and large-scale power stations.

Photovoltaic 46GW stimulates the demand for distribution and storage

In the past 12 months, Italy has added approximately 6.4GW of solar power, a year-on-year increase of 16.85%, with photovoltaics accounting for 53.6% of the total installed capacity of renewable energy. The daytime power generation surges sharply, but the gap during the evening peak cannot be automatically bridged, and the problems of grid connected consumption and electricity price fluctuations are becoming increasingly prominent. Energy storage is becoming an indispensable solution, and the larger the photovoltaic installation, the less likely energy storage is to be just an optional configuration. Keywords: Chinese energy storage companies 、solar energy storage projects

Next round of competition to compete and compete for operational value

For Chinese equipment manufacturers and system integrators, the opportunity lies not only in waiting for the bidding of gigawatt level large-scale storage, but also in focusing on existing photovoltaic customers to enter the distribution and storage needs - batteries, inverters, energy management software, and local delivery services need to be packaged and provided. The real increment comes from pushing energy storage from installation equipment to continuous operation. Whoever can catch the local compliance, system control, and customer side revenue logic can convert the 46GW photovoltaic chassis into long-term orders and verifiable project returns. Aggregation scheduling, grid connection capability, and trading strategy will determine the outcome of the next round of competition.Editor/Gao Xue