Offshore Wind and Battery Storage | Dispatchable Power as the New Benchmark

Offshore wind and battery storage just hit a new benchmark. On September 24, 2025, the French State selected TotalEnergies to build the country’s largest renewable energy project: a €4.5 billion, 1.5 GW offshore wind farm off the coast of Normandy.

On paper, it’s a milestone. 6 TWh of annual generation, powering more than a million homes, at a competitive €66/MWh tariff. For TotalEnergies, it’s the biggest domestic investment in 30 years. For France, it’s the anchor of a long-awaited offshore push.

But here’s the truth: wind without storage is half a strategy.

Offshore Wind and Battery Storage | The Scale vs. Intermittency Problem

The Normandy offshore wind farm will deliver enormous capacity — when the wind blows. Yet the European grid, already strained by electrification and weather volatility, can’t run on intermittency alone. That’s where battery energy storage systems (BESS) enter the equation.

The global battery energy storage systems market is valued at USD 17.7 billion in 2025 and is projected to soar to USD 123.3 billion by 2035, growing at 19.3% CAGR. Asia Pacific leads with nearly half of current revenue, but Europe’s offshore wind buildout is setting the stage for deeper integration.

In short: offshore wind supplies the megawatts, BESS provides the reliability.

Lithium Dominates, But the Chemistry Race Is On

Today, lithium-ion batteries hold ~64% of the BESS market, driven by their energy density and fast cycling. That dominance explains why projects like Tesla’s Megapack in California and CATL’s containerized storage units in China are scaling so quickly — and why offshore wind and battery storage are increasingly paired as one integrated solution.

But Normandy’s 1.5 GW farm — like every major offshore project to 2035 — won’t just need lithium. Long-duration chemistries are emerging: iron-air, sodium-ion, zinc hybrids. In May 2025, China’s Southern Power Grid commissioned a 200 MW lithium-sodium hybrid storage station. In Minnesota, Form Energy is building a 100-hour iron-air battery plant with Xcel Energy.

For developers, the takeaway is blunt: winning tenders in the 2030s won’t just be about turbines — it’ll be about pairing wind with the right storage mix.

Europe’s Edge | Regulation + Integration of Offshore Wind and Battery Storage

The European Union has already embedded this logic into policy. The revamped Energy Efficiency Directive mandates energy demand cuts of 11.7% by 2030. That makes offshore wind without storage politically and commercially incomplete.

Integration is already underway. In the UK, Hitachi Energy and Ørsted are deploying high-voltage BESS to stabilize offshore wind connections. In Germany, Northvolt opened a new gigafactory in 2025 focused on utility-scale BESS for European utilities.

The Normandy project, slated for final investment decision in 2029 and operation in 2033, will land in a Europe where offshore wind and battery storage are no longer parallel markets — they’re one business model.

The Market Dynamic | Who Wins?

• Developers like TotalEnergies, RWE, and Ørsted that can integrate storage into bids will outcompete those offering wind alone.


• Battery majors — Tesla, CATL, LG Energy Solution, BYD — are already moving into utility storage deals worth billions (Tesla’s $4.3 B supply deal with LG in July 2025 is one example).


• Industrial OEMs — Siemens, Schneider, ABB — see offshore wind as a natural extension of their EMS and grid solutions.

For France, the Normandy farm is an offshore showcase. For the market, it’s proof that dispatchable renewables are the new benchmark.

The Bigger Picture

The offshore wind industry is scaling to terawatt levels globally. The BESS market is compounding at nearly 20% annually. Neither trend stands alone.

The primary keyword of the decade isn’t just “offshore wind.” It’s “offshore wind and battery storage.”

Because megawatts are useless if they’re not there when you need them. Storage turns variability into certainty. It makes €4.5 billion projects bankable, tariffs credible, and net-zero grids possible.

Turbines win headlines. Batteries make them work.

Stay Ahead with MarketGenics

At MarketGenics, we track how flagship projects like the TotalEnergies Normandy offshore wind farm connect with megatrends such as the battery energy storage systems industry. From lithium-ion dominance to long-duration pilots, from European policy mandates to Asia Pacific’s manufacturing scale — we deliver insights that help investors, utilities, and corporates position for the future.

For tailored research or consulting on offshore wind and battery storage integration, connect with us here.

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