Octopus Energy Generation has partnered with ZE Energy to invest in and build one of Italy’s biggest BESS projects, while Eco Stor has secured financing for one of Germany’s, which it is already building.
Meanwhile, optimiser Entrix has also won two large contracts in Germany and the Netherlands.
Octopus and ZE Energy partner on 895MWh Italy project
Renewable investment fund manager Octopus Energy Generation has struck a deal with developer and IPP ZE Energy to back one of Italy’s biggest battery energy storage system (BESS) projects.
The two will jointly invest in the Sessa Aurunca BESS project in Campania, developed by ZE Energy. Construction is due to start this summer for commercial operation in 2028, when it will be the largest standalone BESS in south-central Italy.
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The project totals 95MW/895MWh of capacity, a 9.4-hour duration, and has long-term revenue visibility thanks to a 15-year contract won in the MACSE auction in September 2025 run by TSO Terna. MACSE will enable Terna to balance the grid as more solar comes online, with a 70% renewables target by 2030.
Sessa Aurunca was the third-largest project in the auction by capacity won. Its actual capacity in the auction totals 832MW (see our ESN Premium analysis of the auction at the time here).
Octopus is investing on behalf of the Sky fund (ORI SCSp) which it manages. It is also investing in Italian BESS via a partnership with developer Nexta Capital.
Eco Stor and NORD/LB agree financing for 718MWh Germany project
BESS IPP Eco Stor meanwhile has secured financing for its 300MW/718MWh Foerderstedt in Germany, one of the largest under construction in the country.
Banks NORD/LB and Santander will provide a financing package for the project which is set to go live in 2027, NORD/LB said yesterday (16 June).
Eco Stor started building the project in November last year, before securing a long-term toll with virtual power plant (VPP) and trading platform Next Kraftwerke for a majority of its capacity a few weeks ago.
In a Q&A with Energy-Storage.news during the lead-up to last week’s Energy Storage Summit at The Battery Show Europe, in Stuttgart, Eco Stor managing director Georg Gallmetzer said that offtake is absolutely key for larger projects to unlock financing in Germany.
But the financing package was perhaps only made possible by the clarification by the government that energy storage projects will remain exempt from grid fees if they come online by 4 August, 2029.
Energy storage is increasingly needed as more and more solar penetrates the German grid, and industry figureheads argue that the grid fees make projects uneconomical.
Owners enlist Entrix for projects in Germany and Netherlands
Optimiser Entrix has secured a deal to trade and commercialise a 144MWh BESS in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, set to come online this month.
The Schloen project belongs to the Dillinger Group, and combines a 36MW/144MWh BESS with an adjoining solar plant. The 4-hour BESS will run exclusively on energy generated by the PV plant. Entrix will then use the energy across the day-ahead and intra-day trading markets.
In relate news, BESS platform Giga Storage has revealed that it has enlisted utility and waste management firm Veolia and Entrix to optimise its 10MW/47MWh Giraffe project in the Netherlands. It was inaugurated in November 2025, and the pair have been optimising it since last month.
