We are happy to announce that a major upgrade of our solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in Italy is progressing at full speed with more than twenty construction sites open and more than 100 workers currently involved. This move is part of ContourGlobal’s strategic commitment to renewable energies, plants optimization and the transition of our global portfolio towards lower-carbon power generation.

The project focuses on revamping and repowering 35 of the company’s total 71 solar PV plants in the country, targeting a 43% increase of the installed capacity of the modernized plants. This enhancement will be achieved without any additional land use, benefiting from the higher power density of the new modules installed in the same areas and the Italian grid’s hosting capacity.

But far from being just a technical upgrade to improve efficiency, the project features numerous relevant improvements on the sustainability dimensions. The discarded modules, for example, are subject to an end-of-life processing that allows to recover 97% of the materials which includes copper, silver, aluminum, glass and crystalline silicon. The old ground mounted steel structures being replaced by new single-axis trackers, as well as the old inverters being upgraded, are also subject to similar processes highlighting the importance of circular approaches.

Once completed, these upgrades will boost ContourGlobal’s total solar PV capacity in Italy to 113 MW, significantly enhancing their contribution to the country's renewable energy landscape. Considering the new installed capacity of the 71 PV plants at the end of the project, ContourGlobal will be providing enough solar power to supply more than 70 thousand Italian homes over an entire year.    

To support this ambitious expansion, ContourGlobal increased its existing EUR 202 million infrastructure financing, recently awarded “Refinance Deal of the Year” by the Infrastructure Journal. The original accordion allowed for a new competitive contest to be launched among existing and new lenders, aiming at  the optimization of commercial and structuring terms as well as allowing  to uplift the total commitments to EUR 264 million. The new transaction was oversubscribed, confirming the appetite for good quality projects and creative finance solutions to speed up the development of renewables.

Looking forward, ContourGlobal is exploring additional opportunities for integrating energy storage solutions at some PV sites. This hybrid co-location approach of batteries and generation plants will further unlock renewable resources’ full potential, firming up renewable electricity supply and contributing positively to the energy transition.

Click here to know more about the ContourGlobal portfolio in Italy.