Zelestra and EnBW have agreed to work together on a large battery energy storage project in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, under a long-term tolling arrangement covering 300MW of capacity. The wider project is expected to reach about 500MW in total and will provide four-hour storage, giving the system more than 1.2GWh of flexibility for the Italian power grid.
According to the report, Zelestra will build the storage facility while EnBW will offtake the 300MW portion. Construction is due to begin in 2027, with the project slated to enter full operation in 2028. The companies say the deal is intended to support grid flexibility as renewable generation expands across Italy’s electricity market.
Zelestra said the agreement means its Emilia-Romagna battery project is now fully secured. The site is located in an area with strong industrial power demand and increasing renewable output, which has raised the need for additional grid balancing capacity. Zelestra Italy chief executive Eliano Russo said the country needs flexible power resources at scale and described the partnership with EnBW as the kind of long-term structure needed to make large storage projects viable.
The company also noted that its experience developing battery storage projects in Spain, Germany and Italy, along with EnBW’s presence in major European power markets, helped make the deal possible. Zelestra said Italy remains an important market and that it aims to double its 1.4GW pipeline of solar and battery storage projects within the year. The company has also recently secured contracts for nine projects in Italy’s FER X auctions, supporting up to 168MW of new solar capacity, and last month signed a power purchase agreement with Meta for the 180MW direct current Palmera Solar Plant in Texas.
Source: finance.yahoo.com
