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

Three projects in Italy’s Lombardia, Piemonte, and Puglia regions

14 February 2024, ITALY / UK / SINGAPORE – ACL Energy, a Milan-based battery energy storage developer, today 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 leading 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 leading 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.

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About ACL Energy
ACL Energy is an independent energy infrastructure development company focused on utility-scale battery energy storage projects in Italy. The company is developing a sizeable and diversified pipeline totalling around 5GW capacity. Founded by Lorenzo Avello, Nicola Locascio, Saverio Calabretta and 3E Ingegneria, ACL Energy benefits from a solid national and international experience in renewable energy and storage projects.

About BW ESS
BW ESS is a dedicated energy storage business with a globally diversified project portfolio comprising over 400 MWh under construction and over 1GW of ready to build projects. Through its network of developer investments and partnerships, it is further supporting the advancement of pipelines. The company combines the benefits of scale and centralisation at a platform level, with local development partners, suppliers, contractors and financial institutions, to deliver market leading BESS projects. BW ESS is a part of BW Group, a global energy and maritime infrastructure company with a growing portfolio of clean energy investments, including batteries, solar, offshore wind and biogas.

About Penso Power
Penso Power creates, deploys, owns, and manages large grid-scale battery energy storage projects. Penso Power and BW Group announced a joint venture agreement in October 2021 that will see BW commit capital to fund the build out of Penso Power’s UK project pipeline totalling more than 3GWh.

Contacts

For media enquiries, please contact:

Paul Taylor, Taylor Keogh Communications
Tel: +44 (0)7966 782611, Email: paul@taylorkeogh.com

Hana Schoon, BW Group Communications
Tel: +65 97885629, Email: hana.schoon@bw-group.com
BW ESS | www.bw-ess.com

For more information, please contact:

ACL Energy | www.acl-energy.com
Nicola Locascio, Managing Partner
Tel: +39 331 8674034, Email: n.locascio@acl-energy.com

Penso Power | www.pensopower.com
Richard Thwaites, CEO
Tel: +44 (0)7768 823673, Email: richard.thwaites@pensopower.com

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