The latest issue of SEB’s Sustainable Finance Outlook focuses on the key role that battery energy storage plays in overcoming Europe’s energy challenges. It highlights how surging battery deployment is building a more reliable, affordable and secure European energy system. The report also underscores that the rapid buildout of energy storage needs to go hand in hand with greater investments in grid infrastructure.
“Global investment in clean energy is hitting new record highs, and the faster transition is driven by its security and affordability” says Thomas Thygesen, Head of Strategy and ESG in SEB Equity Research at SEB. “The focus is increasingly on upgrading the entire energy system rather than just producing electricity, so storage and grids are coming into focus as long-term growth segments too.”
“As renewable deployment accelerates, driving greater variability, intermittency, and price volatility, Europe’s battery energy storage market is projected to grow rapidly” says Gregor Vulturius, Lead Scientist and Senior Advisor in Climate & Sustainable Finance at SEB. “Utility-scale batteries will add 550GWh in capacity over the coming ten years in Europe, requiring at least €55bn in investments.”
The report also features an update on the sustainable finance market and how it has funded energy storage.
“10 months of 2025, the sustainable finance market recorded USD 1.85tn in new transactions, a marginal 2% YOY decline.” says Samantha Arpas, Sustainable Finance Specialist at SEB. “Venture capital has been a key force in driving battery development in innovation globally, amounting to €22bn since 2022 with shifts in technology and sustainability demands rapidly changing investment trends.”
