Developers Matrix Renewables and Emeren have agreed a deal for a 410MW/3,280MWh BESS project portfolio in Italy, equating to an average discharge duration of 8 hours.
The five-project transaction is within the framework of a 1.5GW development services agreement (DSA) the pair signed in June this year, which sees Emeren handle early-stage development with Matrix paying it for each onboarded project as well as for specific development targets.
The five battery energy storage system (BESS) projects are all in the southern region of Apulia, where solar PV will be the dominant renewable energy source going forward making load shifting a significant part of the business case for energy storage.
The portfolio’s combined 410MW power and 3,280MWh energy storage capacity indicates a discharge duration of 8 hours, the highest duration typically seen for large-scale lithium-ion systems. Several 8-hour projects in California, US, have gone ahead.
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The announcement said the five projects totalled 3,787MWh of energy storage capacity, implying over 9 hours of duration, but a spokesperson for Matrix told Energy-Storage.news the correct figure was 3,280MWh. The discrepancy may relate to the overbuild to account for DC-AC energy conversion or degradation over the project’s lifetime.
They added that the projects are expected to reach ready-to-build (RTB) stage in early 2025.
Developers Energy-Storage.news interviewed for a recent feature on Italy’s burgeoning grid-scale energy storage market for Solar Media’s quarterly journal PV Tech Power suggested durations would be around 4-5 hours, potentially up to 8.
Transmission system operator (Terna) wants an average duration across energy storage resources on the grid to be 8 hours but this is weighted between BESS and pumped hydro energy storage (PHES), which would typically be 10-20 hours.
Yumin Liu, CEO of Emeren Group, commented: “We are not only reinforcing our leadership in the European storage pipeline development, but we are also setting new industry benchmarks, particularly in Italy. We are also extremely glad that the partnership with Matrix is flourishing, bringing mutual success and expansion opportunities to both entities in this rapidly evolving sector.”
See all Energy-Storage.news coverage of the market in Italy here.
Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 9th annual Energy Storage Summit EU in London, 21-22 February 2024. This year it is moving to a larger venue, bringing together Europe’s leading investors, policymakers, developers, utilities, energy buyers and service providers all in one place. Visit the official site for more info.
