Sphera Energy has announced the closing of a transaction with Pacific Green Technologies (OTCQB: PGTK) for the sale, in two phases, of a portfolio of five Battery Energy Storage (BESS) projects in Italy.
With the closing of the transaction, Pacific Green has acquired an initial 51% majority stake in the special purpose vehicles holding the rights to the projects, while purchase of the remaining 49% will be completed at the end of the permitting and authorization process which will be managed by Sphera Energy.
The portfolio of five projects will have a total capacity of 500 MW and an expected capacity of 2,800 MWh. The first project, located in Campania, has already been submitted to the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security for authorization. The entire portfolio is expected to achieve ready-to-build status in late 2024 and early 2025, with subsequent design and construction managed by Pacific Green.
Mahael Fedele, co-founder and CEO of Sphera Energy, said: "Within 12 months from the launch of our platform, we are particularly proud to enter into this partnership with a leading player such as Pacific Green, which has executed projects in the UK and established a track record of high profile transactions in the energy storage space. This agreement is a fundamental step in our growth plan and testifies to our reliability and credibility in developing investment-grade projects. This transaction, which involves only part of our pipeline, allows us to consolidate our three-year growth plan with the aim of becoming a leading player in the rapidly expanding energy storage sector in Italy."
Luca Bandini, CEO of the Combigas Group, anchor investor in Sphera Energy, said: "We have always been very attentive to the evolution of the energy market and to the emergence of new segments and technologies, especially in the renewables sector, and this project is proof of this. We have supported the initiative right from the start backing the team with our group’s experience and financial solidity, in line with our mission to be protagonists of the national energy transition".
Sphera Energy was advised in the transaction by Jones Laing Lasalle's (JLL) Energy & Infrastructure Advisory Italy team coordinated by Sr. Director Giovanni Paolo Di Giovanni, and by law firm BonelliErede with a team led by Partner Gabriele Malgeri.
For enquiries please contact info@sphera-energy.com.
SPHERA ENERGY
SpheraEnergy is an Italian start-up, with offices in Faenza and Milan, active in the energy transition space and operating as a platform for the development of grid-scale energy storage projects. Founded in late 2022 by a team of international renewable energy industry veterans, it is led by CEO and co-founder Mahael Fedele. The company benefits from the team’s decades of entrepreneurial and corporate experience in the development of clean energy
initiatives at national and international level. Sphera Energy's projects support the resilience and flexibility of the grid enabling ever greater penetration of renewable energy generation and accelerating the decarbonization of our eletrcitiy systems. The company maximizes value creation by managing the entire development process, from the greenfield screening and origination of attractive project locations, to the completion of the entire technical and administrative development process, ensuring high and rigorous standards of bankability and in harmony with all social and environmental stakeholders.
COMBIGAS GROUP
Combigas Group is an historic company in Emilia Romagna, based in Faenza, active in the energy sector for over 40 years. With the vision of creating a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem, capable of sharing values and generating well-being for people, companies and the environment, it invests in innovation, solid relationships and knowledge sharing. The energy transition is at the heart of the Combigas project, which aims to contribute to the increase of renewables in the national energy mix. From production to mobility carriers, Combigas deals with traditional energy with the marketing of petroleum products and energy from renewable sources with the development, operation and commercialization of generation and storage systems. The group is made up of 4 integrated companies specialized in different energy sectors: Siron Srl, Energifera Srl, Esco Solution and Stone Pine, as well as 2 investee companies: Greenfield Renewables and Sphera Energy.