UK-based utility and IPP Octopus Energy has entered the energy storage market in Italy, forming a joint venture (JV) with developer Nexta Capital to deploy up to 1.5GW of BESS.
The investment in the JV and its projects is being done through Octopus’ Octopus Energy Development Partnership (OEDP) fund, and builds on its separate JV with Nexta formed last year to deploy wind and solar in Italy, also through OEDP.
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The new JV will deploy up to 1.5GW of battery energy storage systems (BESS) across several projects mainly in the south of the country, Octopus said. Nexta will develop the projects while Octopus’ flexibility platform Kraken could optimise the assets’ dispatch into the energy market once operational.
It is not clear if Octopus plans to be the long-term owner and operator of the assets through its independent power producer (IPP) arm Octopus Generation. The company overall plans to invest €1 billion (US$1.1 billion) in Italy by 2030 across clean energy technologies.
Italy is one of the most exciting grid-scale energy storage markets in Europe right now. Grid operator Terna has said it needs a pinch under 9GW/72GWh of new energy storage online by 2030 to integrate a growing renewable energy, and the country was the subject of a deep-dive in a recent edition of Solar Media’s quarterly journal PV Tech Power.
Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, said: “Big batteries like the ones we’re developing with this new joint venture make the most of when it’s sunny and windy by storing abundant green energy and releasing it back into the grid when it’s needed. Battery storage will play a vital role in a 100% green energy system – and exciting projects like this will help us to get there quicker than ever before.”
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