Italy has 170 MW/267 MWh of distributed storage capacity

Rome: At the end of October, Italy had 36,896 storage systems linked to renewable energy power generators, according to figures released by national renewables association ANIE Rinnovabili.

These storage systems have a combined capacity of 170.1 MW and a maximum storage capacity of 267.5 MWh. This compares to 80 MW/168 MWh of distributed storage capacity at the end of March 2019.

With the exception of one standalone system, all the deployed batteries have a capacity of up to 10 kW. Around 95% of the installed storage capacity is represented by systems based on lithium-ion technology. The figures show around 90% of the devices have a storage capacity of less than 20 kWh.

Most of the storage systems are deployed in the region of Lombardy – some 11,366 units with a combined capacity of 47.2 MW/78.9 MWh. The regional government last month allocated another €20 million for rebates for residential and commercial storage systems coupled with PV. The scheme will be open to two different kind of projects – installations of PV systems linked to storage systems, and the deployment of standalone storage systems linked to existing solar arrays.

For the first project category, the rebates will cover 50% of purchase and installation costs. This percentage could go up to 90% for projects developed by small municipalities.

The Veneto region, which is also supporting distributed storage deployment through an ad hoc scheme, has the second largest volume of storage capacity, at 28.1 MW/47.7 MWh.

ANIE Rinnovabili said that the current market development will not be enough to reach the target set in the Italian energy strategy (PNIEC), which is of 1 GW by 2023.

Italian energy agency the Gestore dei Servizi Energetici in June 2017 published new technical rules for the integration of storage systems with renewable energy generation systems.