Renewables investor Octopus Energy Generation has teamed up with French solar-plus-storage specialist ZE Energy to build a 98.5-MW/895-MWh battery project in Italy, one of the country’s biggest energy storage sites.
The project was developed by ZE Energy and is supported under a fixed 15-year contract won in a domestic tender, the partners said on Jun 16. Octopus, which targets 1.5 GW of installed capacity by 2030, invested in the project on behalf of the Sky fund it manages.
The scheme is currently in the final stages of development.
The Sessa Aurunca battery energy storage system (BESS) will be installed in the Campania region in the central south of Italy and will connect to an existing substation. Set to be the largest standalone battery in south-central Italy, it will store excess green power and inject it back into the grid when demand is high, delivering electricity for 130,000 Italian homes when fully charged. Construction works are slated to begin this summer and the facility is expected to be switched on by 2028.
The project will support Italy’s goal to source 70% of its electricity from renewables by 2030, backed by 10 GW of battery storage and 80 GW of solar. “Our conviction is simple: solar will only be able to scale up if it is combined with storage solutions capable of better integrating it into the grid, making it more dispatchable and improving its value,” said Nicolas Wolff, CEO of ZE Energy.
