NHOA Energy has launched construction on a battery energy storage system (BESS) project for independent power producer (IPP) ERG in Sicily, Italy.

The energy storage market in Italy doubled in capacity in the first half of the year, though Q2 saw the first slowdown in nine quarters and that could be repeated in H2, according to the country’s renewable energy trade body.

A total of 71GWh of new grid-scale energy storage needs to be deployed in Italy by 2030 for it to decarbonise its energy system in line with the EU targets.

In a big week for the grid-scale energy storage market in Italy, regulators have approved new grid storage-specific auction rules and a chunk of Aura Power’s 500MW-plus pipeline of BESS projects.

UK battery storage developer Field Energy has announced plans to expand into Italy, a market where the utility-scale sector is set to grow substantially from a negligible base today.

Recently-formed developer Innovo Group is targeting a 1.5GW/9GWh lithium-ion BESS development portfolio in Italy and UK, with the first system in central Italy online in Q1 2024.

A regulatory framework put in place by Italy’s grid operator TERNA has enabled Enel X to aggregate residential energy storage systems to pool their capabilities.

Tesla is negotiating with the government of Armenia over supplying a grid-scale storage system, while Italy’s grid operator revealed it is collaborating with the EV and smart energy tech maker to “study new techniques of energy storage”.

Plans by Italy’s grid operator to allow for the interconnection of energy storage to the network have resulted in the country’s first grid-connected solar-smoothing storage facility being inaugurated.