Accumulation: Puglia, Sicily and Basilicata are the regions with the most projects

Puglia first in Italy for stand-alone energy storage projects. These are those electrochemical battery systems, on an industrial scale, capable of absorbing the electricity produced at peak times by renewable plants and then feeding it into the grid at times of need (e.g. during the night when photovoltaic parks are not working), helping to balance the entire national electricity system. According to Terna's data updated on 31 July, there are 710 dossiers pending in the region for the connection of storage projects to the grid, for a total of 80.2 GW (almost one third of the national total); of these, 14 (for 1.2 GW) are ready for operation, i.e. they are in the final technical connection phase.

In the special ranking, Puglia is followed by Sicily (with 454 practices for 4.5 GW), Basilicata (with 183 practices for 21.8 GW), Sardinia (with 164 practices for 18.2 GW), Lazio (with 148 practices for 17.7 GW), Emilia Romagna (with 128 for 15.4 GW), Lombardy (with 118 for 14.7 GW), Campania (with 161 for 14.7 GW), and Piedmont (with 112 for 11.7 GW). Scrolling down the numbers we then come across Molise, Tuscany, Calabria, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Umbria, Abruzzo, Marche, and Trentino Alto Adige.

Among the provinces, the areas most interested in this new technology, which is destined to grow, are Foggia, Brindisi, Potenza and Catania. Specifically, starting from Apulia, 291 applications for 30.8 GW of power have been submitted for the province of Foggia, followed by Brindisi (181 23.1 GW), Lecce (76 for 8.8 GW), Taranto (73 for 7.8 GW), Bari (64 for 6.5 GW) and Barletta-Andria-Trani (25 for 3 GW).

In Sicily, the province of Catania stands out with 96 files for 10.7 GW of power; it is followed by Trapani (80 for 7.8 GW), Ragusa (57 for 6.8 GW), Palermo (59 for 6 GW), Siracusa (50 for 4.2 GW), Agrigento (49 for 4.1 GW), Caltanissetta (42 for 3.7), Enna (15 for 1.3 GW), Messina (6 for 0.6 GW). In Basilicata as of 31 July, again for stand-alone plants, the province of Potenza collected 125 files for 15 GW and Matera 58 for 6.8 GW.

Terna is responsible for the high- and extra-high-voltage connection of plants with a capacity of 10 MW or more. The connection request is the first step in a process that ends with the construction of the plant and connection to the grid. In Italy in all, Terna has so far received 3,689 connection requests for storage systems, amounting to 313.7 GW. Of these, stand-alone projects are behind 2,546 connection requests for 277.2 GW. The rest are hydroelectric storage systems (projects that store electricity by moving water between two reservoirs) and systems integrated with wind or solar parks, i.e. storing and returning electricity to the individual plant.