BESS owner-operator BW ESS has progressed large-scale projects in Italy and Spain, totalling almost 1.2GWh and set to come online in 2027/28.
Construction is now underway on BW ESS’ 107MW/515MWh Chignolo Po battery energy storage system (BESS) in Lombardy, Italy, the company announced yesterday (1 September).
The project near the town of Pavia was developed by BW ESS’ local development partner ACL, after the companies joined forces in the Italian energy storage market in 2024.
It has a capacity market (CM) contract from transmission system operator (TSO) Terna, for which the obligation starts in 2027.
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BW ESS also won a contract in the first MACSE auction in September 2025, for a 706MWh project in the south of the country, also developed by ACL.
So far, CM auctions have been primarily for capacity in the north while MACSE looks set to only target energy storage capacity in the south for now. Terna is using MACSE to integrate the large solar PV pipeline there by enabling renewable generators to procure storage assets’ flexibility in the market.
BW ESS executive director Roberto Jimenez, and other Italy market sources, spoke with ESN Premium about MACSE and its implications shortly after the auction.
Then today, a day after announcing Chignolo’s construction, BW ESS revealed it had acquired two BESS projects in Spain from developer Navacant.
The projects, both in Valencia, total 126MW/675MWh of energy storage capacity, with power ratings of 99MW and 27MW, respectively. They have been in development for 18 months and are expected to reach ready-to-build status in 2027, with commercial operations targeted for 2028, BW ESS said.
The Spanish grid-scale storage market has lagged slightly behind other major European markets, which most put down to less developed regulatory frameworks and market mechanisms for storage.
But activity has started to pick up in the past year or two, and numerous government schemes are giving it a helping hand. Its first capacity market (CM), approved this year, is expected to be accessible to energy storage. There have also been various capex grant auctions, the most recent awarding €360 million (US$416 million) for co-located battery storage.
BW ESS is also a major player in the UK storage market, as well as Australia, and recently revealed its first project in Germany to reach construction, a huge project which may eventually reach 5.7GWh in capacity.
Jimenez also gave us an interview on that one recently (subscription required), while his colleague, senior commercial manager Nikhil Koppaka discussed the German market-at-large.
Koppaka will be speaking at the Energy Storage Summit Germany 2026, which runs on 15-16 September 2026 in Berlin (use our code ESN20 for a 20% discount on tickets).
