505MWh BESS commissioned in Bulgaria, 2.2GWh progressed elsewhere in Europe

ContourGlobal puts Bulgaria project into operation

Independent power producer (IPP) ContourGlobal has put a 202MW/505MWh BESS in Bulgaria into commercial operation.

The project is located within the Maritsa East 3 coal plant complex, and benefited from existing grid infrastructure.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Minister of Energy Zhecho Stankov, who commented: “The commissioning of this facility marks a decisive step in Bulgaria’s energy transformation.”

ContourGlobal said the project is now actively participating in both the day-ahead and intraday national electricity markets. It benefited from funding under Bulgaria’s portion of the EU-wide Recovery and Resilience programme.

Its commissioning follows another similarly-sized project going into operation last year in Bulgaria, said then to be the largest in the EU. That was deployed by a company called Advance Green Energy AD.

ContourGlobal meanwhile is quickly becoming one of the most high-profile BESS owner-operators globally. It owns the first three phases of the huge Oasis de Atacama solar-plus-storage project in Chile. Its portion of that totals 451MW of solar PV and 2.5GWh of BESS, acquired from developer Grenergy. In July last year, it acquired 1.6GW of Italian projects from an unnamed developer.

Aer Soléir FID on 250MW/1GWh Italy BESS

Developer and IPP Aer Soléir has reached FID on a 250MW, 4-hour BESS in Italy, called Rondissone. It claimed it is the largest project now under construction in the country.

Financier Centrus was the project’s debt and hedging advisor and structured the transaction with the senior debt facilities, providing up to 80% of the capex on a long-term, 15-year amortisation profile. The financing was provided by banks Bayern LB, Nord/LB, CIBC, Siemens Financial Services through Siemens Bank and ABN AMRO.

Aer Soléir secured a fixed seven-year toll for the project in September 2025 with optimiser Ego Energy, part of oil and gas major Shell.

The FID also means that developer Altea Green Power has secured the final milestone for its €15 million (US$17.5 million) payout for the project, Altea reported separately. The pair partnered on Italy projects nearly four years ago. The total project cost is €180 million, Aer Soléir said.

It doesn’t appear that the project was one of the winners in Italy’s recent MACSE auction in September 2025. Developers and operators have been waiting for that auction to pass before making FIDs on their projects (whether they won or not).

Triodos invests in Italy BESS

Triodos Energy Transition Europe Fund, part of bank Triodos, has entered the Italian BESS market via a partnership with Bluefield Storage Development. The partnership will pursue development of eight projects across the country, totalling 400MW (MWh not disclosed). The projects are all at or close to ready-to-build status, Triodos said. The Bluefield Group’s main BESS activity to-date has been in the UK.

Neoen and Uniper enter long-term Germany toll

IPP Neoen has signed a seven-year 30MW/78MWh toll with utility Uniper for a BESS, called Arneburg, in Germany. The contract will start in 2027, while the project will be operational this year. The toll covers most but not all of the project’s capacity, which is 45MW/90MWh in total.

It is Neoen’s first BESS in Germany, and it started building it around a year ago. The company has also been active in deploying BESS in Italy, Finland, Sweden and Australia, and was acquired by infrastructure investor Brookfield in 2024.

Copenhagen Energy FID on 53MWh Denmark BESS

Developer and IPP Copenhagen Energy has reached FID on a 53MWh BESS in Holbæk Municipality. Financing will be provided by Ringkjøbing Landbobank A/S and the European Investment Fund (EIF).
Commissioning is scheduled for the second half of 2026.

MFT Energy Denmark investment

Energy trading firm MFT Energy meanwhile has acquired a majority stake in Northium Energy, a BESS developer active in Denmark. The partneship will see Northium handle development and capital raising while MFT will bring market optimisation and execution capabilities to maximise the value of the BESS in power markets. MFT didn’t reveal the size of the partnership or any timelines.

Winda building second Finland BESS

IPP Winda Energy will build a 50MW/100MWh BESS in Jämsä, Central Finland, with construction to start in early 2026. It is the company’s second, after it launched construction on a 30MW/60MWh project in Rautavaara last year. Both projects are being deployed in a partnership with Czech renewables and flexibility services firm Second Foundation.

Matrix Renewables enlists Tesla for Scotland BESS

IPP Matrix Renewables has appointed Tesla to deliver engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) for its 500MW/1GWh BESS in Scotland, it announced last month (22 December).

Tesla signed a Full EPC agreement for design, construction and commissioning of the 2-hour BESS, which is located in Eccles, Scotland. Matrix has met all the planning conditions for the project and is now at the ready-to-build (RTB) stage.

The Eccles BESS will be Matrix’s first standalone storage project in the UK. It acquired the site, along with another in Kilmarnock, Scotland, in April this year, through a partnership with Green BESS Developments UK, part of Czech investment group Creditas.

See the full original version of this article on Solar Power Portal.

Additional reporting by Molly Green.

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