Lightsource bp focuses on photovoltaics and storage. Ready to participate in 2025 auctions

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The acquisition by bp of the remaining 50.3% of Lightsource bp does not change the plans of the company led by Giovanni Mascari, who in an interview with Radiocor charts the course for the future. A route that sees a focus on renewables with particular attention to photovoltaics and storage. Moreover, although the approval of the Eligible Areas Decree creates a bleak situation for the sector, it has no impact on the company's plans to participate in the new auctions to be held on photovoltaics and storage in 2025.

The transaction was expected and does not change our strategy, which continues to befocused on the ecological transition. Compared to the previous business, all onshore activities of the bp group are transferred to Lightsource bp in general. So the strategy remains unchanged, there is an increasing interest in looking at opportunities in a very critical way and in a way that achieves maximum value. There is not a spasmodic search for volume, so much as looking in a more structured way at the possibility of value creation over time. And this remains over time. As they say in these cases, straight slash.

We always look at the market. On both the storage and photovoltaic side, we have a series of dossiers to analyse. There are elements that we look at more favourably and others less so. There are destabilising elements with regard to the regulatory framework that put us on standby in certain regions with regard to further investment in solar. Then there are other particularly positive regulatory elements such as the Macse that lead us to look with great interest at storage and our willingness to continue investing in the sector.

As far as the photovoltaic regulatory framework is concerned, there is the question of the approval of the Suitable Areas decree. The situation in Sardinia, where we initially investedis not particularly rosy. On the other hand, there are positive examples such as that of Lombardy and Puglia that give us hope that other regions will not follow Sardinia's less than virtuous example. Certainly what we are all wondering about is how the government plans to meet the targets that have been agreed upon with a regulatory system that goes at different speeds. The Consolidated Text on Renewables certainly aims to simplify and speed up authorisation procedures, but the Decree on Eligible Areas creates havoc. We continue to look at the market, we will not abandon it, but I am sure that a lack of regulatory certainty raises questions.

On the contrary, this sector is not, especially when it comes to stand-alone plants, affected by the Eligible Areas Decree. So the regulatory framework is more stable, a number of changes have been mentioned regarding the possible decentralisation of authorisation processes, and at the moment all plants, except in Sicily, are centrally managed in Rome. It seems that this may change in the short term, but the decree on suitable areas will have no impact. There is a lot of expectation for what the incentive system of the Macse will be, which compared to other European countries brings the Italian market to a competitive level because there is greater certainty and clarity in terms of revenues. This explains the great interest that the market is showing in the storage sector in Italy. We have believed in it from the beginning and are increasingly convinced of our thesis. To date we have almost 1 Gigawatt portfolio under development at various authorisation stages and present in the different regions of interest for Macse. We are a major player in the sector. We have analysed the dynamics a great deal and are therefore watching with great interest how the next steps unfold, also in relation to the publication of the quotas and the definition of the starting premium. It is a sector in which I expect very positive developments.