European gas power projects double as battery storage gains ground
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Beyond Fossil Fuels, a European organization focused on ending fossil fuel use, reported that the total capacity of canceled gas power projects in Europe doubled in 2023.
The analysis shows that canceled projects reached 20.6 GW, a figure representing about one third of the power currently planned for new gas-fueled plants. The group attributes these cancellations to rising construction costs, authorization difficulties, and project delays. In several countries, developers are replacing planned gas plants with battery energy storage systems.
In Belgium, Luminus canceled a 235 MW expansion at the Ringvaart gas plant to instead propose a 100 MW battery system at the same site. In Romania, an operator canceled a large gas project and plans to develop 1 GW of storage across three industrial sites.
In the United Kingdom, developers replaced a 299 MW gas plant at West Burton with a 500 MW battery system and swapped a gas plant of up to 1,199 MW at the Gateway Energy Centre for a 450 MW battery unit. In Italy, Enel canceled a gas conversion project in La Spezia and set aside a project at Brindisi Sud.
At the Brindisi site, Enel is developing a major storage project and has been authorized for a system called Brindisi BESS 3. In La Spezia, a 21 MW storage system is already operating, with a second 193 MW plant expected to start in January 2027. Analysts note that the cost of four-hour battery storage is now lower than that of open-cycle gas plants in all 43 markets examined by Wood Mackenzie.
Despite this, Beyond Fossil Fuels argues that some European capacity markets still favor gas over non-fossil alternatives. For example, Italy recently reduced the power quota recognized for batteries in its capacity market, which the organization claims could hurt the economic competitiveness of new investments in southern regions.
