Developer Enerside Energy has sold a project combining agrivoltaics (agriPV) and a battery energy storage system (BESS) in Italy to Chint Solar.
The project consists of a 360MWp agriPV solar farm and the 40MW/82.5MWh BESS ‘Palmadula’ facility, which Enerside has sold to Chint Solar, a developer and independent power producer (IPP).
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The project is in Sardinia and is one of the largest single projects in Italy, Enerside said, with ready-to-build (RTB) status expected to be achieved in 2025. It spans 900 hectares and includes areas for crops and sheep grazing.
German consulting firm Capcora was sell-side advisor to Enerside for the deal, the value of which has not been disclosed.
Enerside entered into a joint venture (JV) with investment vehicle Alternative Green Energy Italy Holco 2 (AGE) in March last year for 2.6GW of solar PV projects in Italy, as covered by our sister site PV Tech.
Italy’s renewable energy development pipeline has grown substantially in the last few years with revised national clean energy targets, and the grid-scale energy storage pipeline has followed closely behind as a consequence.
Transmission system operator (TSO) Terna is launching a capacity market auction with EU funding, which will provide financial support for 8GW/71GWh of large-scale energy storage under 12-14 year contracts, discussed in detail on a panel at Solar Media’s Energy Storage Summit EU 2024 in London (Premium access).
Many of the first wave of BESS projects being built in the country are in Sardinia, including Enerside’s. These include a 1GW-plus portfolio from Enel, in which it recently sold a 49% stake to investor Sosteneo.
Enerside’s choice of a c.2-hour duration for its BESS is somewhat notable, as most projects in Italy appear to be going for at least 4-hour systems or more.
