Developers Emeren and Matrix Renewables, part of private equity firm TPG, intend to launch a development service agreement (DSA) for 1.5GW of battery storage in Italy.
The DSA will see the pair work on up to 1.5GW of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Italy, which is set to become one of Europe’s most active grid-scale markets as Energy-Storage.news wrote yesterday in an extract from the most recent edition of PV Tech Power (Vol.35).
The DSA involves a series of non-refundable payments from Matrix to Emeren for every onboarded project in the framework of the agreement as well as for the achievement of each development target.
This indicates Emeren, which has to-date mainly been a solar developer, covered extensively by sister site PV Tech, will be taking charge of more of the early-stage development work.
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The first portfolio of projects delivered and accepted by Matrix totals 260MW of standalone BESS projects, the announcement said.
Emeren’s participation in the DSA is actually through a joint venture entity consisting of subsidiary Emeren Limited, local engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm Enerpoint S.r.l and Kaizen Invest Holding S.r.l.
Yumin Liu, CEO of Emeren, said: “the DSA structure-based transaction confirms our sizable standalone BESS pipeline in Italy, showcasing our team’s confidence in project development and early-stage monetization. We are confident in our ability to deliver sustainable solutions that meet evolving energy needs and contribute to a cleaner, more resilient energy landscape.”
Chris Matthews, MD for Europe at Matrix Renewables, added: “We are confident that our combined efforts will drive meaningful advancements in the renewable energy sector in Italy with both parties taking a leading position in the Italian BESS market.”
Activity in the country has been picking up in the last few months, with an 800MWh given the final regulatory approval, a 15MW system coming online to provide ancillary services, and Enel Green Power announcing the start of construction on 1.6GW of projects.
Matrix Renewables has been active in the California solar-plus-storage market, last year securing financing for two projects with 80MWh of BESS. The developer was launched by TPG in 2020 thorough its impact investment vehicle The Rise Fund.
