HELLENiQ Renewables, a subsidiary of HELLENiQ Energy, has commissioned its first standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, as part of a €50 million investment.
The facility spans 10 hectares and comprises 56 battery containers, with 100 MW of power capacity and 200 MWh of storage capacity, enabling two hours of discharge at full power.
The system uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries with liquid cooling. Supporting infrastructure includes a 33/150 kV substation and a 5-kilometre underground high-voltage transmission line.
The facility is expected to complete at least one full charge-discharge cycle per day, supporting renewable energy integration and improving grid flexibility.
The Thessaloniki investment totals €50 million and received support through Greece’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, under the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility and NextGenerationEU programmes.
The investment comprises three segments, including an additional project with 25 MW of power capacity and 50 MWh of storage.
HELLENiQ Renewables also expects to complete its second battery storage facility in Florina, western Macedonia. The project will provide 50 MW of power capacity and 200 MWh of storage.
HELLENiQ Energy’s renewable energy and storage portfolio exceeds 6 GW, with 727 MW currently operational. Its energy storage projects across Greece, Romania, Cyprus and Bulgaria account for more than 1 GW.
The company targets 1.5 GW of capacity by 2028 and more than 2 GW by 2030 across solar, wind and storage projects in Greece and Southeastern Europe.
The Thessaloniki project marks another step towards integrating utility-scale energy storage into Greece’s electricity market. As solar and wind capacity expands, batteries can store surplus electricity during periods of low demand and release it when demand rises, reducing renewable energy curtailment. The significance extends beyond adding 100 MW of storage capacity. The expansion of battery storage, alongside pumped-storage hydropower and grid infrastructure, could help Southeastern European markets integrate more renewable generation, ease grid constraints and improve power system flexibility.
The actual impact will depend on operating efficiency, electricity price spreads and the availability of grid infrastructure. As storage deployment accelerates across the region, the ability to shift electricity between periods of surplus and demand will become increasingly important to the economics and reliability of renewable power.
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