​Decree n. 259 of 6 August 2026 put an end to the Italian auction calendar uncertainty and sets Italy's auction calendar. The next Capacity Market round is now set to run after the MACSE tender, due on 24 November 2026.

For batteries, the rules don't move the same way everywhere. De-rating, demand and import limits split sharply between Nord and the South. We unpack the changes in this article.

Key takeaways

• ​The Capacity Market auction is now set to take place after the MACSE tender happening in November.
• For 4-hour batteries, rating factor drops 54% in the islands zones and 24% in the Northern zone compared with the previous round. At the €47,000 awarded by the 2027 auction, that batteries located on the island would earn €14,000 per MW/year in the islands and €24,000 in the Northern zone, against €31,490 anywhere in Italy for 2027.
• The requirement moved north: 1.8 GW of adequacy requirement was added in Nord, most likely for data centres, while Sardinia's projected adequacy requirement drops 0.8 GW.

Four de-rating curves replace one with overall battery rating dropping

Through 2027, every battery's derating factor was derived from a single national curve based solely on duration. From 2028, Terna will assess adequacy contribution using four zonal curves instead of one.

Of the 10 GWh awarded in the MACSE storage auction for 2028 delivery, 7 GWh sit in South and Calabria. The permitting pipeline has grown fastest there and in the islands with more than 84 GW of projects in development in Puglia alone.

​Terna's model reads a strong storage buildout as a saturation risk: batteries in the same zone tend to charge in the same hours ahead of a shortfall. Where storage already makes up a large share of local capacity, each new battery adds proportionally less to adequacy.

​Eleven percentage points now separate the Northern zone from the Southern zone for an identical four-hour asset. Center South and the islands are now 23 points apart.

At a premium equal to last year's clearing price, €47,000, a four-hour battery would earn €24,000 per MW in Nord (-24%), and €18,800 in Southern Italy (-40%).