Renewable developer Sonnedix is increasing its solar power capacity in Italy with a series of acquisitions, its CEO told Reuters, adding the company was also looking at opportunities to develop battery storage projects in the country.
The JP Morgan-backed operator, which entered Italy in 2010, announced on Thursday the acquisition of an 80 megawatt (MW) solar plant in Sicily from local renewable construction firm Blunova, a unit of privately-owned Carlo Maresca Group.
The transaction is part of a broader partnership with Blunova under which Sonnedix has purchased four solar farms, including Thursday's deal, and will buy six others by mid-2025, acquiring a portfolio of 10 plants with a capacity of 250 MW.
Sonnedix said it could not reveal the financial details for the deal.
"By June next year, Sonnedix will increase its total operating capacity in Italy to nearly 800 megawatt, moving towards the goal of 1 gigawatt of capacity by the end of 2025," Sonnedix CEO Axel Thiemann told Reuters in a phone interview.
Thiemann said that the partnership with an Italian ally was key to navigate the regulatory framework of the Mediterranean country, where national rules could be subject to different interpretation at the regional level, making the permitting process complicated, particularly for foreign investors.
"There's a lot of work required, really understanding and interpreting and making sure that you do things the right way... But generally, we are bullish on Italy as a renewable hot spot," the Sonnedix CEO said.
Thiemann added that Sonnedix was waiting for the Italian government's final regulations on battery storage to unlock a series of projects the investor was already developing.
"We have a lot of battery pipeline in Italy... and we are waiting really for final verification of the rules," Thiemann told Reuters, adding operators would invest in this sector if they could have long-term certainty over the revenue stream they can get from a battery storage project.
Italy is expected to issue rules on auctions for battery storage services at the beginning of next year in an effort to unlock investments in this sector which is deemed crucial to increase flexibility of renewable energy power generation.
