Terna, the transmission system operator (TSO) of Italy, has approved the grid connection for a 500MW/3GWh BESS project. Meanwhile several smaller projects have progressed across the rest of Europe.
Terna has given the green light to a 509.25MW battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Brindisi, which will have a capacity of up to 3GWh, and is being developed by Israel-based firm Airengy. The firm said it is targeting a duration of 4-8 hours, and 3GWh will put it in the middle of that range.
The expected construction timeline from the date of signing the connection agreement is about 20 months and it will require investment of around €230 million (US$265 million). It is a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with conglomerate Yehuda Levi Group, and will connect to the Pignicelle substation.
The next step is to submit a regulatory application to Italy’s Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE). The project would be among the largest in the country, possibly only beaten by a 3.6GWh project that was one of a handful that won contracts in Terna’s MACSE auction, which concluded in Q3 last year.
EIB finances solar and storage portfolio in Italy
In related news, the European Investment Bank (EIB), financial firm Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking (Natixis CIB) and independent power producer (IPP) Sunprime Holdings have signed a project-finance operation for a 290MWp solar PV and energy storage portfolio.
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Called Project Sophocles, the financing will support the construction of nearly 200 rooftop and ground-mounted PV plants with 350MW BESS across Italy.
By pairing distributed solar PV generation with large-scale BESS, the project will help improve Italy’s grid flexibility and strengthen the resilience of the electricity system, according to EIB.
See the original version of this article on PV Tech.
BESS news from elsewhere in Europe
The Italy developments come amidst a flurry of BESS project news from elsewhere in Europe, including Finland, Romania, Austria, Poland, Slovenia and Latvia.
In Finland, telecoms firm Elisa’s subsidiary Elisa Industriq has won BESS optimisation contracts with project owners Nivos, Enereon and Puutarha Timo Juntti, covering four projects totalling 22MW/44MWh. Elisa launched BESS optimisation initially to utilise the distributed batteries on its own network but has since expanded to offer services to other companies.
In Romania, investor Alive Capital has acquired an 82.8MW/181MWh ready-to-build (RTB) BESS project, for construction in Q2 2026 and commissioning in Q1 2027, requiring €25 million in investment.
In concurrent Romanian BESS news, BESS and inverter firm Sungrow will supply Enevo Group for its 1GWh pipeline of BESS projects in Romania. The first 440MWh of those will be delivered before December this year, and all will utilise its PowerTitan 2.0.
In Poland, the local subsidiary of UK-headquartered developer and operator Low Carbon has enlisted engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm Goldbeck Solar for an 8MW/16MWh project in Przeworsk, near Rzeszów in the south-west of the country. Construction is to start in Q2 2026 for commissioning in Q1/Q2 2027, and developer Evercon and trading firm InCommodities are project partners.
In Austria, US-based V2G specialist Nuvve has continued its push into the BESS sector with a newly-revealed 40MW/80MWh project in Bad Goisern am Hallstättersee, Upper Austria. It is the latest asset activated under the company’s strategic cooperation agreement with developer Omnia Global. Nuvve is providing project development consulting grid aggregation operation services, and holds a right of first refusal (ROFR) to acquire the completed asset.
Finally, a portfolio of five BESS projects from platform NGEN across Slovenia, Poland, Latvia, and Romania is being considered for a first loss guarantee from the EU via development finance institution EBRD. The projects total 302MW/635MWh and would require a loan of up to €70 million as part of project financing.
Additional reporting by Jonathan Touriño Jacobo.
