Qualitas Energy closes financing for construction of 211 MW BESS portfolio in Italy

The portfolio comprises two BESS projects located in the Italian regions of Lombardy and Apulia, with a combined installed capacity of 211 MW, comprising 4-hr and 8-hr battery storage systems, respectively. Both projects benefit from long-term contracted revenues under 15-year agreements awarded through the capacity market and Italy’s MACSE storage auctions. The projects are owned by ACL Energy and its industrial partner as majority shareholder, with Qualitas Energy financing the minority shareholder equity contribution to the projects.

The financing will support the construction, commissioning, and operation of the portfolio, with disbursements linked to the achievement of specific construction milestones across the projects. The funding will be provided through the Qualitas Energy Credit Fund, as part of Qualitas Energy’s broader credit strategy which has secured over €370 million in commitments to date.

Under this strategy, Qualitas Energy offers tailored debt solutions for renewable energy infrastructure, encompassing both greenfield and brownfield projects and platforms across various asset classes, including wind, solar, hydroelectric power, BESS, and renewable natural gas. Its mission is to deliver low-risk, attractive returns while supporting third-party developers in their value-creation process and helping them transition into independent power producers (IPPs). Previous investments have supported construction bridge financing for renewable energy assets in Poland, Germany, Spain, and Italy.

José María Arzac, Partner & Co-Head of Credit at Qualitas Energy, commented: “This investment highlights our ability to deploy capital into attractive opportunities across the European energy transition sector through our credit strategy. We identified a clear financing gap for projects or situations requiring flexible and specialised financing solutions beyond the scope of traditional lenders, enabling us to support high-quality partners such as ACL Energy in delivering critical energy infrastructure.”

Severin Hiller, Partner & Co-Head of Credit at Qualitas Energy, added: “BESS are playing an increasingly decisive role in the energy transition by facilitating greater integration of renewable energy, enhancing grid stability and flexibility, reducing renewable curtailment, and providing ancillary services to the electricity system. For these reasons, we view BESS as a highly attractive segment for our credit strategy.”

Nicola Locascio, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at ACL Energy, noted: “We are proud to welcome Qualitas Energy as our financing partner on this transaction, one of Europe’s leading energy transition specialists. Closing construction financing on standalone BESS assets in Italy at this scale speaks for itself, and reflects the quality of our projects and our team. This deal marks ACL Energy’s entry into the institutional capital markets, a defining moment in our long-term growth strategy.”

Lorenzo Avello, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at ACL Energy, concluded: “In today’s increasingly complex energy landscape, BESS are not only key enablers of renewable integration, but also strategic infrastructure for strengthening the competitiveness of the country as a whole. This transaction marks an important step in ACL Energy’s mission to build an independent and scalable Italian BESS development platform capable of supporting the energy transition and creating long-term value for our stakeholders.”

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