Energy storage more than half of new Italian grid capacity for 2025

The results of Italy’s main grid capacity market auction for 2025, published by Terna, show energy storage represented 51.1% of the 174 MW of new capacity assigned.

Thermoelectric plants made up the balance, with the new capacity secured for €67,500 ($72,900) per megawatt per year, for a total cost of €11.75 million.

The auction allocated 37,581 MW of existing “probably available capacity” (CDP) for €45,000/MW/year, for a total cost of around €1.69 billion. That power fleet included around 1 GW of thermoelectric plants for which a commitment has been made to increase availability during critical summer peak hours.

Regarding imported power, the northern section of the grid secured 4.2 GW for €4,788/MW/year, the central-south region 113 MW for €3,968/MW/year, and the south 52 MW for €3,491/MW/year.

The total cost for the procurement round came in at more than €1.72 billion, including €20.7 million for imported power. On top of that, another €550 million is required to fund new capacity assigned in the 2022, 2023, and 2024 auctions, taking into account the termination of contracts for around 1.5 GW of new capacity since those auction rounds.

The procurement exercise held on July 25 and 26, 2024, to secure sufficient power capacity for 2025, ended after the 21st of 26 available bidding rounds.

Terna recently announced, in a press release, the dates of the capacity market auctions for delivery years 2026 and 2027. The main auction for 2026 will take place on Dec. 18, 2024, and for 2027 on Feb. 26, 2025.

From pv magazine Italia.