NextEnergy Capital to develop 300 MWp of solar grid-parity projects in Italy in the next three years

London, October 24th, 2019  – NextEnergy Capital is pleased to announce its commitment to developing grid-parity solar assets in Italy, targeting a portfolio of 300 MWp over the next three years.

NextEnergy Capital’s business model entails the full control over each stage of the development process, from land scouting and preliminary site visit and analysis, through the technical design and preparation of all the documentation requested by the various public and private authorities up to the oversight of each single step required in order to obtain all the authorizations for the construction and operation of a solar PV plant.

NextEnergy Capital has set up an internal development team, with longstanding expertise and track record in this field that has already secured land rights (both industrial and poor quality agricultural terrains) and requested grid connection solutions across the whole peninsula for the construction of PV plants with a generation capacity in excess of 80 MWp. Further projects will be added in the next months and NextEnergy Capital intends to structure long-term PPAs with final corporate off-takers.

This solar plant development project in Italy is in addition to NextEnergy Capital’s extensive project development activities in the United Kingdom, where we have a significant pipeline of projects under development. In August 2019 we grid-connected Hall Farm II (5.4 MWp), NextEnergy Capital’s first subsidy-free solar plant, and are currently in advanced construction of Staughton, a 50 MWp subsidy-free plant owned by NextEnergy Solar Fund, an LSE-listed investment vehicle and component of the FTSE250 index.

Gianluca Boccanera, Managing Director Italy of NextEnergy Capital, commented:

“We are very excited to engage once again in developing solar projects in Italy, as we did at the beginning of our journey more than ten years ago. This time though, we have to do things without relying on public subsidies and taking into account the foreseeable evolution of the energy market. Lots of challenges but at the same time, lots of opportunities for a specialised market participant like us”.

Aldo Beolchini, CIO and Managing Partner of NextEnergy Capital, commented:

“There is a great opportunity for the renewables sector, in particular solar, to grow in Italy in the next years. We will play a leading role in this transition towards a more sustainable future, by applying the best technical and operating practices we have learnt over the years in different jurisdictions in the development and construction of solar grid-parity projects”.