Italy plans 320 MW BESS next to Terna substation

The municipality of Chiari in the northern Italian province of Brescia is set to host one of the largest BESS projects planned in Italy.

The 320 MW facility will not be built in the town center or inside the Terna electrical substation in the Santellone area, but directly adjacent to it, on privately owned land that has been intermittently cultivated for years and was recently affected by the substation’s expansion to the south, Chiari Mayor Gabriele Zotti told pv magazine Italia.

The project will occupy agricultural land, although in an area that is already heavily developed for electricity infrastructure, Zotti said. Opposition councilor Marco Salogni said the existing infrastructure burden around the Terna substation in the rural Santellone area requires compensation measures, including replanting and the creation of green buffer strips.

Zotti said the municipality is already negotiating with the project company, Milan-based Carpi Srl, over road improvements and, in particular, compensation measures related to the impact of climate change on the area. These would focus primarily on increasing water loads, which are putting underground infrastructure and underpasses at risk, he said.

Salogni said his motion on the Chiari BESS is not intended to block the project but to improve conditions for the local community.

Zotti agreed, while highlighting two aspects of the project. First, the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (Mase) has designated the BESS as a project of national strategic importance, meaning the municipality’s role is not to assess or approve it but to facilitate its construction while securing local benefits rather than simply bearing its impacts. Second, while the project will benefit Chiari, it is also important for the wider Bergamo-Mantua transmission corridor, giving the municipality a role in supporting neighboring communities, he said.

The Chiari BESS is not the only storage project under development in Brescia province. According to Terna data, projects are also planned in Brescia itself, with 710 MW, Flero, with 450 MW, Lonato del Garda, with 190 MW, Nave, with 200 MW, Torbole Casaglia, with 310 MW, and Travagliato, with 200 MW.

From pv magazine Italia