Agenda

As energy storage systems increasingly become a cornerstone of Europe’s energy transition, ensuring cybersecurity and compliance with evolving regulations is critical. This session will provide a balanced exploration of the challenges, opportunities, and practical steps for safeguarding energy storage systems while meeting regulatory requirements.

• What does compliance with NIS2 and NZIA entail?
• How does the EU Cybersecurity Act impact energy storage projects?
• What are the key risks associated with Energy Management Systems (EMS) and data flow?
• How do critical infrastructure designations and software exclusion rules shape project development?

Facing unprecedented challenges to its energy infrastructure, Ukraine has emerged as a hotspot for energy storage development, driven by the urgent need for grid resilience and recovery from attacks. With over half a gigawatt of BESS deployed in just one year, Ukraine’s energy storage market is flourishing, but what’s next for this rapidly evolving sector?

• Long-term ancillary service auctions have driven significant BESS deployment. How sustainable is this model for future growth?
• Dynamic grid connection legislation is reshaping the market. How are producers leveraging this to maximise efficiency?
• As Ukraine builds its energy infrastructure, how can BESS enhance grid stability and resilience amidst ongoing geopolitical challenges?

Germany has been a very dynamic market for utility-scale BESS with high revenue possibilities across all wholesales and ancillary services optimization. Revenues are affected by changing markets, prices, grid restrictions and warranty conditions. The presentation shows the development of BESS revenues over time and explains the underlying optimization strategies.

As platforms like PICASSO and MARI transform balancing markets across Europe, what impact are they having on revenue generation for energy storage operators? With market saturation driving concerns around revenue cannibalisation, we will explore the evolving energy storage revenue landscape and strategies to mitigate risks.

• How are PICASSO and MARI reshaping balancing markets and unlocking new revenue streams?
• What strategies can operators adopt to mitigate the risks of revenue cannibalisation in saturated markets?
• How are innovative hedging products, such as tolling agreements and spread hedges, ensuring financial stability for energy storage projects?
• What lessons can be learned from early adopters navigating these challenges?

With the rapid evolution of energy storage markets, how do real-world data and operational insights compare to traditional forecasting models? This session critically examines the practical realities of price trends, revenue cannibalisation, and market saturation, offering evidence-based insights for developers and investors.

• How frequently are zero and negative price hours occurring, and what are their implications for energy storage revenues?
• Are traditional forecasting models, such as those from AFRY, Aurora and Baringa, underestimating market capacity and overestimating saturation risks?
• What operational lessons can be drawn from companies managing BESS and hybrid projects in Central and Eastern Europe?

Romania's battery storage market has moved from pilot projects to genuine scale in 2026, with utility-scale capacity more than doubling this year alone. This session takes stock of where the market actually stands and what it will take to turn today's pipeline into bankable, operating capacity.

• How utility-scale BESS capacity has more than doubled in 2026, and what's fuelling that acceleration
• The new 2026 grid capacity allocation regime replacing first-come-first-served access, and what it means for project bankability
• State support, including a €150 million standalone storage scheme, and rising price volatility, and where both are pointing the market through 2027

Lithuania’s ambitious energy storage strategy is not only a response to its energy independence goals but also a testament to the critical role of technology and cybersecurity in modern energy systems. This session will focus on the technological advancements shaping Lithuania’s energy storage market, offering insights into the intersection of innovation and security.

• How are advanced energy storage technologies, such as Fluence’s “storage-as-a-transmission” model, contributing to grid stability and resilience in Lithuania?
• What role do local collaborations, such as Trina Solar with Stiemo, play in navigating Lithuania’s regulatory and cybersecurity landscape?

• Why the decision problem is so complex. Every moment, the optimisation engine evaluates opportunities across Day-Ahead, Intraday, FCR and aFRR markets, each with different prices, gate closures, risks, requirements and opportunity costs.
• Why human-only trading no longer scales. The number and speed of decisions exceed what humans can manage manually. Competitive advantage increasingly comes from algorithms, data infrastructure and operational processes, while traders focus on strategy, supervision and risk management.
• Co-optimisation rather than sequential allocation. Instead of assigning battery capacity market by market, the engine values every available MW and MWh across all accessible markets simultaneously, continuously recalculating where the asset creates the highest value.
• Power is a local business. Optimisation must be tailored to each market. Poland’s specific rules, liquidity, balancing mechanisms, gate closures and ancillary-service requirements demand dedicated local logic rather than a copy-and-paste strategy from another European market.

As aggregators manage portfolios across 9+ markets amid volatile pricing, AI-powered optimisation and advanced digital infrastructure have become essential for capturing revenue opportunities and maintaining competitive advantage. Examine how artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and operational excellence are reshaping energy storage, addressing the capabilities required to navigate today's complex, multi-market environment.

• How are AI and machine learning optimising revenue streams across multiple markets, and what digital infrastructure is needed to manage 9+ markets simultaneously?
• How do sophisticated digital tools help operators respond to rapid price fluctuations, and what operational capabilities separate leading operators from the rest?
• Beyond technology, what organisational capabilities, team structures, and partnerships are required to implement sophisticated operational systems and create competitive advantages?

With the first generation of large-scale BESS projects now operational across Poland, Romania, and the Baltics, this session brings together operators and asset managers to share real performance data: actual dispatch patterns, achieved revenues, cannibalisation impacts, and operational lessons reshaping how the next generation of projects is being structured and financed.

• How do actual dispatch patterns and revenue stacks compare to pre-investment assumptions, and where have the largest deviations occurred?
• What evidence exists on cannibalisation speed, and what revenue diversification strategies are operators deploying in response?
• What operational lessons are changing procurement decisions, technology selection, and O&M structuring and how are lenders incorporating this into underwriting?

A deep dive into the practical challenges, revenue strategies, and operational insights from real-world hybrid energy projects in Central and Eastern Europe.

• Lessons learned from integrating BESS with solar and wind under dynamic grid conditions
• Proven strategies for optimising revenue streams in volatile electricity markets
• Market-specific insights into regulations, subsidies, and project performance in Poland, Romania, and Ukraine

As Poland's capacity market de-rating factors drop and the non-fossil flexibility scheme remains unclear, BESS projects face a fundamental question: how do you achieve bankability when merchant exposure is structural? This discussion explores practical revenue certainty strategies, evolving risk mitigation products, and structuring deals that work for both equity investors and lenders.

• Explore spread hedges, top-bottom hedges, and tolling agreements as energy traders enter battery markets
• Examine financing structures, junior debt challenges, and lender compliance requirements affecting return
• Address why financiers struggle with merchant alternatives and how to bridge the bankability gap

Financially struggling renewables and favorable regulation are turning a niche into the market's next big opportunity, thus representing a highly attractive alternative to standalone BESS.

• Drivers of the co-located market
• Success factors for co-located revenues
• The revenue potential of co-located BESS in Poland
• Offtake models for co-located BESS

Battery prices have moved sharply since October last year, forcing developers and investors across CEE to rethink project economics in real time. This panel examines how the industry is responding, where pressure is being absorbed, and where it is not.

• How have sharp price increases since October last year impacted project timelines, investment models, and financing?
• How are companies managing these challenges in real time, and what strategies are proving effective?
• The role of raw materials like lithium carbonate and copper, and the logistical hurdles caused by geopolitical tensions