CIP enters Italian market with 2.3 GW BESS pipeline

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), through its Fund CI V, has entered a new partnership with Milan-headquartered developer GC Storage Services (GCSS) for a 2.3 GW pipeline of large-scale, standalone battery energy storage projects in Italy.

The projects are spread across northern and southern Italy, with the first expected to reach ready-to-build stage later this year.

Battery storage is becoming a prominent part of CIP’s portfolio with recent investments in the UK, US, Chile, and Australia. The addition of the Italian pipeline comes on the back of Italy’s supportive regulatory framework and marks the investor’s growth into “selected continental European markets where the system need for batteries is clear”.

“The partnership with GCSS is a great opportunity for us to expand our pipeline of utility scale battery storage projects and to enter the promising Italian market,” said Nischal Agarwal, partner at CIP. “Italy has a clear need for storage and the enabling market and regulatory mechanisms are being put in place to make battery storage projects commercially attractive.”

Italy has established itself as one of Europe’s hottest battery markets. The country placed top among 28 European battery storage markets recently surveyed by Aurora Energy Research, driven by its 50 GWh battery capacity target by 2030 and the opening of its ancillary markets to BESS.

“We expect 10.5 GW [of battery projects] to be added in Italy by 2030, of which 3 GW are already in an advanced stage so they will probably come online within the next two to three years,” said Eva Zimmermann, senior associate for flexible energy at Aurora, recently told pv magazine Italia.

For CIP and GCSS, the business case underpinning their gigawatt-scale pipeline is facilitated by the long-term contracted revenue offered by the Capacity Market (primarily in the North of Italy) and the MACSE auctions to be held in the South.

According to Roberto Castiglioni, CEO of GCSS, a platform set up by Ikigai Energy and Agnoli Giuggioli, was created with the objective of developing one of Italy’s largest and most bankable battery storage platforms.

“Leveraging our UK expertise and AG’s deep local regulatory knowledge, we are building a portfolio of strategically distributed sites across key Italian zones. Partnering with such an experienced investor like CIP allows us to deliver projects that sets new standards for energy storage in Italy,” Castiglioni said.

Earlier this month, CIP finalized fundraising for CI V with total commitments exceeding the target of €12 billion, excluding capital raised for co-investments. The fund aims to invest in the energy transition across a range of technologies, from wind and solar PV to battery storage, across low-risk OECD countries in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.