Macquarie’s Eku to develop more than 1GW of battery storage in Italy

Macquarie’s newly formed energy storage developer Eku Energy says it will partner with European developer Renera Energy to build over 1GW of battery storage projects in Italy.

Eku Energy was established in late 2022 by Macquarie’s Green Investment Group and is now jointly owned by a Macquarie Asset Management managed fund and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI).

It has already completed its first major battery storage project in Australia – the 150MW, one hour battery at Hazelwood, the first big battery to be completed at the site of a shuttered coal fired power station.

It has also won a landmark revenue-sharing deal with the ACT government to the Big Canberra Battery which will be sized at 250MW and 500MWh.

As part of the agreement, Eku Energy has already committed to funding projects with a combined capacity in excess of 100MW in the south of Italy. The storage durations have not been finalised for each project, but according to a spokesperson could be up to eight hours.

“In order to implement the European energy transition as fast as possible, we are excited to partner with Eku Energy to create and develop impactful projects,” said Lars Konersmann, CEO of Renera Energy Italy.

“Battery storage is the perfect complement for renewable energy production. Combining it with our Solar Power Plant pipeline we are moving Italy an important step ahead on the way to a completely renewable energy supply.”