Chaberton Energy and Italian developer Sunscape have announced the sale of their first two solar energy projects in Italy, marking a major step in their entry into the country’s growing solar market. The two projects, named Maestrale and Ponente, have been developed in partnership and are now set to move into the construction and operational phase under new ownership.
Maestrale is a 7.4 megawatt direct current (MWdc) solar farm located near Bologna, while Ponente, located close to Bari, has a capacity of 1.3 MWdc. Both solar farms are ground-mounted and use advanced bifacial solar panels combined with one-axis tracking technology to improve efficiency and boost energy output. These systems are connected directly to the medium-voltage power grid and are expected to start operating later this year. Together, the Maestrale and Ponente projects will generate approximately 13.5 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of clean electricity annually—enough to power around 5,000 homes in Italy.
Alessia Incagnoli, head of business development for Green Utility SpA, who managed the transaction together with Ruben Oxenham, project developer, said, “We are thrilled for this milestone. Adding more projects like these to the grid is an important step towards the ecological transition.”
Stefano Ratti, CEO of Chaberton Energy, who himself is originally from the Piemonte region of Italy, mentioned, “I am particularly proud of the Chaberton-Sunscape joint venture, which represents a great step for both companies in the development of renewable energy in Italy. Both companies share a commitment to doing well and doing good in the communities in which we operate, and the projects we are developing meet both these standards.”
Giancarlo Gentile, CEO of Sunscape, stated, “These first two projects reached ready-to-build status in less than two years from initial site identification, demonstrating the efficiency of our development approach. We are focused on projects up to 10 MWdc that benefit from simplified permitting procedures and shorter development timelines, and we look forward to expanding our presence in the Italian market with further successes.”
Over the next 30 years, they are projected to prevent about 140,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, contributing significantly to Italy’s sustainability goals. The projects have been acquired by Green Utility SpA, a local independent power producer, which will now oversee construction and future operations. This sale represents the beginning of a broader plan, as Chaberton Energy and Sunscape aim to prepare more than 30 MWdc of solar projects for construction within the next year. In total, the two companies are working on developing over 100 MWdc of solar energy capacity across Italy, and further collaborations with Green Utility are already being discussed.
