Italy’s MACSE 2.0: some are convinced the market will rebalance while others have given up hope

Italy has upped the capacity for its second grid-scale battery storage auction by 60%, with a launch date set for 24 November [2026], but the market’s ardent optimism from the last auction appears to have waned with few washing their hands off the mechanism altogether. The Meccanismo di Approvvigionamento della Capacità di Stoccaggio Elettrico (MACSE) was launched for the first time last September [2025] following close to two years of consultations and market sounding and was touted as the risk-free renewables solution which was appealing to conservative investors. Managed by Italian transmission system operator (TSO) TERNA, the auction set out to procure long-duration storage which would help the integration of intermittent renewables generation and stabilise the grid.