Italy’s Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) issued five new single authorizations (AU) on Oct. 30 for battery energy storage system (BESS) projects with a combined power capacity of 722.5 MW. Including previous approvals, 24 storage projects totaling 3.7 GW received authorization in October, exceeding the 3.2 GW approved in September.
The largest of the five projects approved on Oct. 30 is Castra Energiae Umbriae, for which Rinascita Botticelli Srl, a subsidiary of Rinascita Holding, obtained authorization under Decree 322/2026. The 434.5 MW project will be located in Castel Giorgio, in the province of Terni, and will comprise 340 battery containers, each with a capacity of 4.472 MWh, for around 1.5 GWh in total, and 2,040 inverters rated at 213 kW. Construction is expected to take around 17 months.
The other four projects are all in Puglia. Nuveen, through CS Bess 2 Srl, received authorization for the 103 MW Valle del Forno 2 project in Castelluccio dei Sauri, while Reden subsidiary Electricity Time Shifting 4 Srl was authorized to build a 50 MW battery in San Severo. GR Value subsidiary GRV BESS Srl received approval for a 35 MW project in Stornara, and RNE IT SPV 41 Srl for the 100 MW Bari Loseto project. Construction is expected to take 24 months for the Nuveen and Reden projects and nine months for the GR Value project.
Leading developers
Engie received authorization for the 140 MW Leini project in the province of Turin, through Engie Produzione Spa, alongside its combined-cycle power plant in Leinì. It also secured approval for a 122.4 MW BESS developed by Engie Puglianello Srl in the municipalities of Amorosi and Puglianello, in the province of Benevento. The two projects total 262.4 MW, adding to the 104 MW Andria project authorized in September.
Milan-based ACL Energy secured authorization for the 116 MW Bari Ovest BESS, through ACL SPV 3, and the 250 MW Lucera 1 BESS, through ACL SPV 16, for a combined 366 MW. Including the Carpi and Castelverde projects authorized in September, the group now has four authorizations totaling 728 MW over two months.
Naples-based Energy Total Capital obtained two authorizations through special-purpose vehicles registered at the same address: 198 MW in Manfredonia, Foggia, and 51 MW in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Caserta, for a combined 249 MW. The group had already secured authorization for the 222 MW Sant’Agata di Puglia project in September.
Two more authorizations went to companies established following the split of GRA BESS Srl. Santa Maria Srl received approval for 104.4 MW across Santa Maria La Longa and Pavia di Udine, while Casei Srl secured authorization for 100.8 MW in Casei Gerola, Pavia. Both projects have the same plant configuration.
The other four projects are all in Puglia: a 103 MW project by Nuveen in Castelluccio dei Sauri, a 50 MW project by Reden in San Severo, a 35 MW project by GR Value in Stornara, and a 100 MW project by RNE IT SPV 41 in Bari. Construction is expected to take 24 months for the Nuveen and Reden projects and nine months for the GR Value project.
Other recipients include Urus Storage, with a 250 MW project in the Macchiareddu industrial area near Cagliari; Portugal-based Greenvolt in Copertino, Lecce; NPD Italia II in Civitavecchia; Viola Rinnovabili in Borore, Nuoro; Myt Renewables in Castelnuovo Scrivia, Alessandria; Agave; HorizonBess; Grottaglie Solar BESS; Galatina BESS 2; and Casetta Storage.
Puglia received 12 of the 24 authorizations, totaling around 2,237 MW, or 60.6% of the month’s authorized capacity. Even excluding the large Brindisi project, Puglia would remain in first place, with more than 1.2 GW. The province of Foggia had the largest concentration, with six projects totaling around 752 MW.
Outside Puglia, notable projects include the 435 MW development in Castel Giorgio, Umbria, and 305 MW across Macchiareddu, Cagliari, and Borore, Nuoro, in Sardinia. Northern Italy accounted for around 11% of the total, or 420 MW, across five projects in Piedmont, Lombardy, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Emilia-Romagna. Two of these projects, in Casei Gerola and Castelnuovo Scrivia, will connect to the same Terna substation, Castelnuovo Scrivia, on the border between the provinces of Pavia and Alessandria.
October ended with two fewer authorizations than September, at 24 compared with 26, but around 440 MW more capacity. The average project size therefore rose to around 154 MW, from 125 MW in the previous month. The figure is inflated by the Brindisi project, however, with the median remaining effectively unchanged at 100 MW.
Most projects are smaller than 200 MW, and 12 have a capacity of no more than 100 MW. The smallest is Myt Renewables’ 25 MW project in Castelnuovo Scrivia, with 104.16 MWh of storage capacity. Few decrees specify energy storage capacity. Where figures are available, durations range from around 3.5 hours for Castel Giorgio to more than 4.5 hours for Brindisi and Santa Maria La Longa, with Civitavecchia (70 MW/282.15 MWh) and Castelnuovo Scrivia at around four hours.
Construction schedules also vary widely, ranging from six to 31 months.
From pv magazine Italia
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