IN Brief:
- Sonnedix has acquired two Tuscany battery projects totalling 260MW/1,040MWh.
- Enfinity Global has sold a minority interest in a 150MW/600MWh Livorno project.
- BNZ and RWE have placed storage equipment orders totalling a further 540MWh.
Sonnedix has acquired two standalone battery projects in Tuscany as part of a group of Italian storage transactions covering more than 1.5GWh of planned capacity and equipment.
The renewable energy producer purchased the projects from Sphera Energy. The portfolio comprises a 160MW/640MWh development and a second 100MW/400MWh project, giving a combined capacity of 260MW and 1,040MWh.
Both systems are configured for four hours of discharge at rated power. Their acquisition expands Sonnedix’s Italian development portfolio beyond renewable generation and into large-scale storage capable of operating across longer daily price and balancing cycles.
In a separate transaction, the Strioga Family Foundation has acquired a 49.99% interest in Enfinity Global’s 150MW/600MWh Livorno battery project through E Energy Invest. Enfinity will retain control of development and construction and will provide long-term asset-management services.
Two further agreements concern equipment supply rather than project ownership. BNZ has ordered 240MWh of Sungrow storage systems for the Rinaldone and Camposcala solar sites in Lazio, including long-term service support.
The BNZ installations form part of an 850MW programme to hybridise renewable assets across Spain, Italy, and Portugal. Adding batteries at operational or developing solar sites can use existing land, infrastructure, and connection capacity more efficiently, although the extent of shared grid access depends on the technical terms of each project.
RWE has separately ordered 300MWh of LONGi storage equipment for an Italian solar-plus-storage development. The planned system will use LONGiBank units based on lithium-iron-phosphate chemistry and will also operate with a four-hour configuration.
Investment broadens beyond the first storage auction
The projects do not appear among the successful developments in Italy’s first MACSE storage auction, held in September 2025. Their progress shows acquisition, hybridisation, and equipment procurement continuing alongside the state-backed mechanism rather than depending solely on the next allocation round.
MACSE is intended to procure time-shifting capacity for the Italian system through long-term contracts. Projects outside the mechanism need alternative commercial structures, which may include bilateral tolling agreements, optimisation contracts, merchant trading, ancillary services, or later participation in capacity and flexibility markets.
The latest transactions cover several positions in the project lifecycle. Sonnedix has acquired complete developments, the Strioga investment introduces a minority capital partner, and the BNZ and RWE orders secure equipment for assets that remain within their existing ownership structures.
That variation reflects the capital required to build storage at scale. Developers can recycle capital through project sales, bring in institutional investors, retain operating interests, or contract capacity to utilities and trading companies, with each structure affecting financing, dispatch control, electricity-price exposure, and responsibility for degradation and availability.
Four-hour systems are becoming more prominent in Italy because they can shift larger volumes of renewable generation into evening periods and sustain output for longer than batteries configured mainly for fast frequency response. The trade-off is greater energy capacity, a larger equipment footprint, and higher capital cost for each megawatt of power.
The same duration is being applied to the 300MW/1.2GWh capacity contracted by EnBW from Zelestra. That agreement forms part of a planned 500MW/2GWh battery project in Emilia-Romagna and adds another long-duration lithium-ion asset to Italy’s developing pipeline.
Hybrid solar-storage projects face a different operating calculation from standalone batteries. Charging directly from photovoltaic generation can reduce renewable curtailment and reshape the site’s export profile, while grid charging can widen trading opportunities where connection and market rules permit it.
Shared connections require close control of combined output. The energy-management system must coordinate photovoltaic inverters, battery power-conversion equipment, metering, protection, and export limits so that the site remains within its connection agreement while responding to dispatch instructions.
Equipment procurement is becoming more competitive as established and newer suppliers pursue European orders. Sungrow has an extensive storage presence across the region, while the RWE agreement is among LONGi’s first large European battery contracts following its acquisition of PotisEdge.
Bankability will depend on more than cell supply. Developers and lenders will examine system safety, power-conversion performance, controls integration, warranty terms, augmentation requirements, service coverage, and long-term access to replacement components.
Lithium-iron-phosphate remains the selected chemistry for many utility projects because of its cycle life, thermal characteristics, and avoidance of nickel and cobalt in the cathode. System safety still depends on cell quality, enclosure design, detection, cooling, separation, propagation control, fire strategy, and the operating limits applied throughout the asset’s life.
The combined 1.5GWh-plus total does not represent a single coordinated programme, and the projects remain at different stages. Planning, grid access, financing, equipment delivery, construction, and market qualification can each alter final capacity or commissioning dates.
Even so, the spread of transactions across Tuscany, Livorno, Lazio, and an undisclosed RWE location shows storage advancing through several regional markets and business models. Italy’s next development phase will be measured by how successfully those announced megawatt-hours become connected, dispatchable capacity.
