For a while now I've been calling for more national and continental support to accelerate battery and ESS deployments in Europe, so we can keep pace with the extraordinary growth around the world. 

This recent European Commission (EC) scheme for Italy is therefore welcome news. Italy has been a huge target market for many of our clients given it's great conditions for solar and proven engineering pedigree (and for us here at Hyperion, as we recently added a new Italian Senior Consultant to our team!) and this movement shows why!

• €17.7 billion boost giving the green light for Italy's ambitious plan to deploy over 9GW/71GWh of energy storage projects over the next 10 years
• Competitive and transparent bidding: No free handouts! Developers compete for funding based on offering the best value per cost storage solutions. 
• Diverse Tech mix: Not only Li-ion batteries but also non-lithium alternatives, long duration storage technologies, and even power-to-gas-to storage, with eligible technologies reviewed every 2 years 
• Smart market: A new "time-shifting" platform matches storage capacity with demand, ensuring renewable energy reaches homes and businesses when needed most.
• Renewables on tap: Italy's growing reliance on wind and solar requires storage to bridge gaps in generation, making this investment crucial for a clean energy future.

The “Time-Shifting" platform is really exciting, as storage capacity can be pooled and allocated on a demand basis, and those benefiting make their assets available upon the TSO's instruction, meaning electricity producers can avoid generation as peak times and asset owners can continue to open up new revenue making opportunities.

We've had the pleasure to work with various exciting Software companies helping to facilitate future market mechanisms (flexibility and load forecasting etc) and we're now starting to see leading companies from mature markets like the UK and Germany, move into Italy.

Let's hope this is the start of a 2024 trend with more and more European countries benefitting from significant support packages for storage rollout!

I lead Energy Storage at Hyperion Executive Search. We help companies along the storage value chain to hire great senior and executive talent. With such growth on the horizon in Italy, the demand for talent will only intensify. If you're looking to scale your team for the Italian market then our expertise in the sector, coupled with Italian experience and team members, makes us your perfect partner. Get in touch today! david.beeston@hyperionsearch.com