ACL Energy, BW ESS and Penso Power form an Italian energy storage joint venture to develop 400MW of projects

ACL Energy, a Milan-based battery energy storage developer, announces a joint venture partnership with BW ESS, an energy storage business dedicated to building, owning, and operating large scale batteries globally, and Penso Power, a London-based developer, owner, and operator of grid-scale battery storage assets with operations in the UK and Australia.

This joint venture marks the entry of BW ESS and Penso Power into the Italian market, which is expected to be one of the most active markets in Europe for battery energy storage. ACL Energy, BW ESS and Penso Power will become joint shareholders in three development stage projects totalling 395MW connection capacity, and the partners will jointly fund the development expenditure. The 111MW project in Lombardia and the 97MW project in Puglia have been submitted to the Italian Ministry of Energy for approval.  The 187MW project in Piemonte will be submitted for approval later this year. 

Terna (the Italian TSO) estimates in the last Adequacy Report for the Italian Electricity System that Italy will need around 27GW of energy storage capacity by 2033 to add a planned 120 GW+ of renewable generation to the Italian grid.

Nicola Locascio, Managing Partner of ACL Energy said: “We are proud to enter into this partnership with international players with such successful track record in the energy storage industry such as Penso Power and BW ESS. This Joint Venture is a fundamental pillar in our medium-long term strategy and consolidates ACL’s ambition of becoming a important player in the rapidly expanding energy storage business in Italy.”

Roberto Jimenez, Executive Director of BW ESS said: “This deal is another example of BW’s commitment to the energy transition and sustainable infrastructure. We look forward to working with Penso and ACL to deliver these three projects and leverage the best practices we have seen from similar investments in other markets.” 

Richard Thwaites, CEO of Penso Power said: “Italy is a priority market for us and the combination of skillsets that this joint venture brings together positions us to take a role in Italian energy storage.  We have been working closely with BW ESS for several years and have benefitted from having them as a shareholder and project partner.  We regard the ACL team very highly and are delighted to formalise our partnership with them.”

ACL Energy was advised by the law firm Eversheds Sutherland.  BW ESS and Penso Power were advised by the law firm Bird & Bird.