Eastern Europe

During testing at Estonia’s 100 MW Kiisa battery park, both EstLink 1 and EstLink 2 tripped, triggering the most severe disturbance to the regional power grid since desynchronization from the Russian electricity system. As a result, nearly 1 GW of capacity was lost within seconds. The park’s owner has since publicly pointed to the battery manufacturer.

Serbia had a record year for solar additions in 2025, led by deployment of large-scale plants. The country has a gigawatt-size project pipeline, although most remain in the earlier stages of development and are not expected to come online this year.

The Solar Energy Association of Ukraine estimates around 1.5 GW of solar was added in the country last year, driven by growing interest in projects co-located with battery energy storage systems across market segments.

Solar Energy Expo 2026, Poland’s flagship PV-plus-storage trade fair, returned this month with a small show-floor footprint but a sharp focus on flexibility and market reform, as well as the storage, inverter and grid-forming technologies shaping the nation’s next phase of grid integration.

The European Commission has launched an in-depth investigation to assess whether a €61 million ($71.6 million) arbitration award in favor of Malta-based ACF Renewable Energy is compatible with EU State aid rules.

Hungary deployed over 1 GW of solar for the third consecutive year in 2025, driven largely by grid-scale solar additions. There are concerns momentum could slow in the coming years due to no new connection permits for large-scale projects authorized over the last three years.

The Polish Photovoltaic and Energy Storage Association (PSFiME) says proposed changes to Poland’s energy law could impose high upfront costs on developers, raising market entry barriers and unfairly favouring large, well-capitalized players.

The Abu Dhabi-based developer has secured $225 million ($193.6 million) for the development of a 300 MW solar plant linked to 75 MWh of energy storage in Uzbekistan, as part of its commitment to deploy 2 GW of renewables in the country.

Czechia’s solar market slowed in 2025, largely due to a downturn in residential deployments. The country’s solar association says that while it remains to be seen if the rate of installations will pick up this year, significant growth is expected in the storage market.

Abu Dhabi-based developer Masdar and Montenegro’s state-owned power company EPCG have entered into a framework agreement that could see a joint venture company belonging to the two parties develop, build, own and operate large-scale solar projects in the country.