Italy's storage capacity procurement mechanism (MACSE) pays a battery a fixed premium for fifteen years.

This premium averaged about €13,000 per MWh a year in the first auction, in September 2025, and the November 2026 auction caps it at €27,000.

In exchange, buyers trade the energy-market use of its committed capacity, through Terna and the power exchange (GME).

The owner keeps running the battery, offers all spare capacity in balancing and keeps 20% of the margin. Outages and wear stay with the owner, and outage penalties can reach about three times the average premium won in 2025.

Terna sits between the buyers who trade the battery and the owner who runs it

The premium is paid per MWh of qualified capacity. Terna pools the committed capacity of every MACSE battery and sells its use as time-shifting contracts on GME, open to any trader with a balance responsible party (BRP). Terna then decides which batteries deliver the trades.

The owner is responsible for keeping the battery available, and its balancing service provider (BSP), which must also be its BRP, offers the rest to Terna.

Like a tolling agreement, the contract swaps market upside for a fixed fee. Unlike a classic tolling agreement, no buyer controls a given battery, and the owner keeps 20% of the balancing margin.

Buyers trade a slice of a zonal pool, not the owner's battery

Terna defines standard products for each zone and technology, and GME auctions them at one clearing price per product. Buyers cannot negotiate terms.