ContourGlobal (Kkr) acquires 1.6 GW of battery projects in Italy

ContourGlobal, an international energy producer based in Italy and controlled by the Kkr fund, has in recent months acquired energy storage projects in Italy using batteries (Bess: battery energy storage system) with a total capacity of around 1.6 GW and a storage duration of up to eight hours. A move also in view of the first Macse (storage futures market) auction called by Terna in September. These assets, once developed, could reach a total storage capacity of almost 9.5 GWh.

The recent acquisitions consist of two separate transactions. The first is a transaction with an Italian operator that includes storage projects with about 1.5 GW of power divided into different stages of maturity. In the group of the most mature ones (totalling 750 MW of power), there are three (totalling 260 MW) in Southern Italy, with technology between four and eight hours, at an advanced authorisation stage and eligible for the first Macse auction in September. In general, the entire portfolio, which could reach more than 9 GWh of storage capacity, with commissioning starting in 2028, is geographically diversified across the country.

The second transaction is the acquisition of a 98 MW project in Southern Italy from a pan-European renewable energy development and investment platform. The system, scheduled to come on stream in 2028, is designed to offer between four and eight hours of storage, with a minimum of 400 MWh of storage capacity.

"Batteries are rapidly becoming the key element in transforming the global electricity system," commented Antonio Cammisecra, President and CEO of ContourGlobal. "With these acquisitions in Italy, which could be further expanded by other transactions, we are developing a portfolio of projects totalling 10 GWh, which testifies to ContourGlobal's commitment to continue investing in the virtuous transformation of the electricity system in Italy. In fact, the development of storage systems in the country contributes to the gradual decoupling from fossil fuels, increasing the resilience of the electricity system, and supporting the energy transition on a national scale'.

In Italy, the company currently has a portfolio of 100 MW photovoltaic parks operating in 14 regions. Outside of Italy, ContourGlobal operates storage plants with a total storage capacity of 3 GWh already in operation, such as the hybrid plant in Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles), or in advanced stages of construction in various parts of the world such as Chile and Bulgaria (where it is in the process of connecting a 500 MWh battery plant) as well as more than 1.3 GWh in advanced development in the United States. In April, it inaugurated the Quillagua photovoltaic solar power plant in Chile, with an installed capacity of 221 MW and 1.2 GWh of storage, and in the area it is completing the Victor Jara power plant that will bring the complex to 851 MW of photovoltaic solar power integrated with batteries for a storage capacity of 2.5 GWh.