Greencells, a German solar energy company, has acquired five solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in Italy with a cumulative capacity of 233MWp. The five solar PV plants are now in the development phase and are located in the south of Sardinia. The acquired solar farms are part of a group of up to 15 projects with a combined capacity of up to 790MWp. Greencells also intends to purchase the remaining 557MWp of capacity after doing proper due diligence. The acquisition extends the company’s total development, engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) as well as operations and maintenance (O&M) portfolio in Italy to 876 MWp.
In January 2021, Italy’s seventh clean energy auction, the Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE), allotted 974.9 MW of renewable energy capacity to projects with individual capacities of more than 1 MW. The GSE distributed 710.2 MW of solar capacity across 60 different locations. Of this, 49 will have a capacity of less than 10 MW, while the remaining 11 will have projects ranging from 13.2 MW to 92.4 MW. German developer Juwi, Italian energy providers ERG and Enel, and Portuguese utility EDP are among the selected bidders for the solar facilities. The auction included 264.7 MW of wind power projects spread across 18 sites.
From the auction ceiling price of €0.065 per kWh, all developers proposed a maximum discount ranging from 2-3.5 per cent. The lowest proposal was €0.06263 per kWh for a 5.9 MW solar project near Perugia, in the Italian central region of Umbria. An 8.4 MW wind farm in Cosenza, in the southern district of Calabria, and a 5 MW solar park in Forl, in the northern region of Emilia Romagna, received the highest bid of €0.0637 per kWh.
