Italian energy storage auction MACSE postponed until September 2025

Italian TSO Terna has decided to postpone its first auction for the procurement of energy storage capacity until later this year. MACSE had been supposed to take place in July, and now will take place in September.

“The first auction for the year of delivery 2028 is no longer conceivable in July,” said the Italian TSO’s head of system strategy, Luca Marchisio, adding that Terna would hold a consultation in July to discuss a September plan in more detail.

“We will talk about September with a consultation in July,” he said, during the second day of the Renpower conference in Milan. Terna reports that it sent the ministry its proposal and that the ministry should approve it in days.

Marchisio pointed out that delaying the auction is not necessarily bad, because the more time passes the more the chances of the auction being competitive increase.

“Authorized volumes must be greater than the quotas,” explained Terna’s head of system strategy. He envisages the future of the Italian BESS market will be more competitive, and that Italy must encourage competition.

“Phase 2 is starting for batteries in Italy: you compete to stay inside. From the auction Capacity Market 2028 we expect an overcapacity and therefore a substantial increase in competition. At this point, in the medium-long term, the regulated-merchant hybrid option will be less and less relevant,” Marchisio said.

Marchisio pointed out that the Italian system has installed 10 GWh of BESS in recent years, mostly at a smaller scale. In recent times, large batteries have been coming into operation.

“In addition to the 1000 MW already in operation, we have about 2000 MW that will come into operation in the coming months, BESS projects that have been awarded the Capacity Market 2025 and 2026,” explained Marchisio.

Terna has registered 300 GW of connection requests. “They could meet the interior needs of the European continent to 2030,” Marchisio said, speaking of the energy-to-power relationship.

Since the MACSE is aimed at integrating photovoltaics, the optimal energy-to-power ratio, especially in the long term, is 8.

“Four and two are a waste,” Marchisio said. “For the next few years, we don’t mind a lower energy-to-power ratio, because we have the ability to have more power to manage other types of services.”

Pietro Peterlana, sales manager at Jinko ESS, confirmed the trend, explaining how the different support schemes also have different needs.

“We confirm the strong interest from the Italian market. In general, intermediate solutions of 4-6 hours are required: 4 hours for the Capacity Market, especially in the north; from 6 to 8 for the MACSE”, said Peterlana, pointing out that Italy is distinguishing itself by following a regulated approach.

Italy is trying to avoid the mistakes made by Great Britain to add renewable integration capacity, without risking the stability of its grid.