Energy Storage Awards 2026 reveals partial shortlist ahead of 19 November London ceremony

The Energy Storage Awards 2026 shortlist is now being compiled, with judges working through hundreds of entries ahead of the fourth annual ceremony on 19 November 2026 at the Hilton London Metropole in London^[1]. Winners across more than 20 categories will not be announced until the night itself.

What has been revealed so far

Energy-Storage.news, which organises the awards through its parent Solar Media (part of Informa Group), has published a partial shortlist for the Industry Awards category^[1]. The nominees disclosed so far are:

System Integrator of the Year

• Sungrow
• Envision
• Hyperstrong
• RES
• NHOA Energy
• XCharge North America
• Wärtsilä Energy Storage
• Fluence

Developer of the Year

• OX2
• Statkraft
• Field
• Fidra Energy
• Zenobē

The full shortlist across all categories is available on the official awards website.

Scope of the awards

The 2026 edition spans 21 categories organised into six broad groups: Innovation and Technology, Financial and Commercial, Project Development, Industry, Individual and Leadership, and Product of the Year^[1]. The Product of the Year group has been expanded this cycle to include four separate trophies: BESS Solution of the Year, Balance of Plant / Hardware Product of the Year, Software Product of the Year, and Safety Product of the Year.

Project Development awards cover four distinct segments: grid-scale standalone energy storage, grid-scale co-located or hybrid projects, distributed energy storage, and best overall European project. The Diversity and Inclusion Award, introduced in 2025 and won that year by the Women in Energy Storage Network (WinES), returns for a second edition.

How entries were assessed

The nomination window opened on 23 March 2026 and closed on 4 September 2026, drawing what organisers describe as a flood of submissions. A hand-picked panel of independent judges - including representatives from Wood Mackenzie, RWE Clean Energy, Nuveen Infrastructure, Modo Energy, and the Long Duration Energy Storage Council - evaluated each entry before producing the shortlists now being finalised^[1].

Judges have said publicly they are looking for entries that demonstrate real-world impact and commercial viability, and that they want the breadth of the sector represented - including smaller and more novel projects alongside the largest transmission-connected BESS deployments.

Context from 2025

At the 2025 ceremony, DTEK - the Ukraine-headquartered energy investor and power producer - took Developer of the Year, while Energy Dome claimed its second consecutive Long-Duration Energy Storage Company of the Year prize^[1]. Those results set a high bar for the 2026 cohort, particularly in the developer and LDES categories where competition appears strong based on the disclosed shortlist.

UK television presenter and adventurer Ben Fogle has been confirmed as special guest speaker for the 19 November event, which is expected to draw more than 400 attendees.

The full shortlist and winner announcements will follow as the 19 November date approaches.