New Report: Solar and storage would slash EU power system operating costs in half by 2030

• Under the Solar+ scenario, EU power system operating costs fall by €55 billion, around 50% compared to 2025.
   
• Accelerated solar and storage deployment enables the EU power system to reach 68% renewable electricity, in line with EU climate and energy targets.
   
• Higher renewable penetration and flexibility reduce EU day‑ahead wholesale electricity prices by 14% on average, with reductions of up to 25% in high‑price markets.
   

BRUSSELS, Belgium (5 May 2026): SolarPower Europe today presents its Solar + report showing that a renewable and storage-based electricity system could halve Europe's power system operating costs by 2030.
 

Compared to 2025, the new report finds that under the more ambitious Solar+ scenario, electricity system annual operating costs fall by €55 billion (−49%) by 2030, driven by reduced fossil fuel use and imports. Under a business‑as‑usual scenario reflecting today’s pace of solar deployment, operating costs still decline by €33 billion (−29%) by 2030.
 

Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe (she/her), said: “An electricity system driven by renewables is fundamentally more cost-effective than relying on the volatile pricing and burning of fossil fuels. Investment in renewables, storage, and non-fossil flexibility pays off for years to come, while fossil fuel investments cost Europe its stability and independence.”

The analysis comes from SolarPower Europe’s new report ‘Solar+: An EU pathway to achieve renewable targets, price affordability, and energy security’, which models the outcome of two scenarios. A business-as-usual Base Case scenario is compared to the Solar+ Scenario, which represents higher ambition towards the attainment of the 2030 EU energy and climate targets.
 

Both scenarios demonstrate the role of solar, electrification, and storage in delivering a more cost-effective energy system, with the Solar+ scenario underlining the potential of solar and storage to be deployed quickly and cost-effectively. 

In exploring the impact of renewables on energy prices, the report models how much renewables could set the electricity price. In the Solar+ scenario, variable renewables set power prices more often (19% of hours vs 14% in the Base Case), reducing the reliance on gas and other thermal generation to set prices.

The analysis points out that when wind and solar – referred to as variable renewable energy sources (Variable RES) – set the electricity price more often, the prices are clearly lower. On average, the Solar+ scenario would reduce EU day-ahead wholesale electricity prices by 14% in 2030, compared to 2025. This drop goes up to 25% in markets, like Germany, characterised by higher power prices. 

Furthermore, flexibility reduces the downsides of variability. The analysis highlights that adequate flexibility deployment can curb daily price spreads (where electricity can be very cheap during abundant renewables hours, then quite expensive during high demand hours). 
 

Importantly, the report identifies a sweet spot where consumers benefit from lower average prices, while preserving the business case for solar. In the Solar+ scenario, negative price hours are kept steady from 2025 to 2030, remaining under 500 hours per year, protecting investors in renewables. Simultaneously, the wholesale day-ahead electricity prices drop by more than 10%, benefitting consumers. 

Battery storage scales fast in both scenarios. Total operating EU battery storage capacity reaches 116 GW / 267 GWh by 2030 in the Base Case, and 171 GW / 598 GWh in the Solar+ scenario. More batteries also become longer duration batteries, with an average storage duration growing to 2.3 hours (Base Case) and 3.5 hours (Solar+) by 2030, compared to 1.9 hours in 2025.

Sonja Risteska, Head of the Battery Storage Europe Platform (she/her) said: “The rapid scale‑up of battery storage already underway, and set to accelerate towards 2030, underlines the pivotal role batteries play in Europe’s energy transition. Reaching 171 GW and close to 600 GWh in our Solar+ scenario shows real progress towards deeper system flexibility. However, even this higher‑ambition scenario still falls short of the storage volumes Europe ultimately needs, underlining the urgency for stronger policy action to unlock flexibility at scale. Only by closing this gap can renewables fully deliver energy security, stability and affordable electricity for consumers.”
 

To unlock the Solar+ era and the clear benefits for Europe, SolarPower Europe calls on EU policymakers and Member States to:
 

• Adopt an EU flexibility strategy with a dedicated battery storage action plan.
  A flexibility‑first approach must be embedded in grid planning, market design and regulation, ensuring battery storage and demand response are prioritised and properly rewarded. EU‑level measures are needed to improve the investability of storage and enable rapid scale‑up.
  
   
• Adopt an ambitious and coordinated EU electrification action plan.
  Electrification must accelerate across industry, transport and buildings by aligning price signals, infrastructure planning and permitting. Correcting distortions between electricity and fossil fuels is essential to make clean electrified solutions the most cost‑effective choice for consumers and industry.
   

The ‘Solar+: An EU pathway to achieve renewable targets, price affordability, and energy security’ report was produced with the support of Rystad Energy, and launched in Brussels during the annual SolarPower Summit.