The Italian energy company NatPower and the American car manufacturer Tesla have reached a $5 billion agreement to build battery storage plants with a capacity of 25 gigawatt-hours in Italy and the United Kingdom.
TESLA: NOT JUST ELECTRIC CARS AND HUMANOID ROBOTS
Although it is best known for electric vehicles – and, more recently, for humanoid robots – Tesla is actually also an energy technology company that sells solar panels and especially batteries for storage. The latter allow the excess energy produced by renewable parks during certain hours of the day to be stored and then returned when needed: they are therefore essential to balance the electrical grid because they compensate for the “gaps” in generation from weather-dependent sources.
WHAT THE AGREEMENT WITH NATPOWER ENTAILS
The construction of five storage plants with 25 GWh capacity in Italy and the United Kingdom is the first phase of a broader program aiming, over time, to exceed a capacity of 100 GWh for an investment of 4-5 billion dollars. According to NatPower and Tesla, revenues could reach around 15 billion over a twenty-year period.
The agreement provides that NatPower will use Tesla’s Megapack battery system, as well as the electricity trading technology developed by Elon Musk’s company. Megapacks are batteries the size of a container with a large storage capacity (up to 3.9 megawatt-hours per module).
Three of the five projects will be built in the United Kingdom; the Italian ones are two, both located in Sicily – more precisely in Priolo Gargallo: in the same municipality is Isab, the largest oil refinery in our country – with a capacity of 1 GWh. The plants will be owned by NatPower and managed by it; Tesla, on the other hand, will handle construction services and will also provide “a floor of revenue effectively guaranteeing the bankability of the project,” explained NatPower’s CEO, Fabrizio Zago (in the photo).
Construction of the two Italian plants will start in 2027, while commissioning is scheduled for 2028. “A share of the revenue,” Zago added, “will be guaranteed by Terna,” the company that manages the Italian electricity transmission grid, of which Cassa Depositi e Prestiti – through Cdp Reti – owns about 30 percent.
WHAT NATPOWER DOES: DETAILS, NAMES, AND FIGURES
Founded in 2019 and based in Milan, NatPower develops renewable energy plants: more specifically, it specializes in solar, wind, hydroelectric, battery storage technologies, and hydrogen. With a pipeline of projects exceeding 24 gigawatts, the company is present not only in Italy but also in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Kazakhstan.
The company also deals with electric charging for the maritime sector (through its subsidiary NatPower Marine) and hydrogen refueling for yachts (through NatPower H).
The CEO is Fabrizio Zago, and the CFO is Almanio Romano.
Zago also holds the majority stake in NatPower, while the French industrial group Vinci holds a 10 percent stake after a 50 million euro investment in 2024. Another major shareholder is the Tyrus Capital fund, based in Monaco.
In 2024 NatPower Italia recorded a turnover of 2,451,461 euros.
