Italy's grid operator, Terna, has 259 GW of standalone battery projects, not paired with a solar or wind plant, in its connection queue. Modo Energy's forecast sees the operating fleet grow from 1.8 GW in 2026 to above 12 GW in 2030.

At the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE), which permits most large batteries, the median time from the start of the permit procedure to the permit rose from 12 months in 2024 and 2025 to 19 months in 2026, as requests piled up.

Adding up the median of each step, a battery takes about five years from the first grid request to operation.

This article explains the permitting and grid connection process and how timelines vary widely by permitting route and by site.

Grid access and permitting run as parallel tracks during project development

Both tracks start with the developer.

• Grid track: the developer asks Terna, the transmission grid operator, for a connection. Terna issues the offer, approves the grid design and builds the connection works.
• Permit track: the developer asks a municipality, a region or MASE, depending on the size and site of the project, for the authorisation to build and operate the battery.

Terna issues its grid offer in about two months. The permit takes about two years and is the main variable for development pace.

At MASE in 2026, a median of 25 months passed from filing to permit: about five months waiting for the procedure to start, then 19 months of review.

The two tracks depend on each other:

• Filing needs an accepted grid connection offer, the Soluzione Tecnica Minima Generale (STMG).
• The permit needs Terna's design approval for the connection works, which usually arrives during the procedure.