Zenith Energy (LSE:ZEN) on Monday told investors it has acquired a ground-mounted photovoltaic development project with an indicative installed capacity of approximately 10 MWp in the Province of Pavia, Lombardy, adding a fourth site to a cluster it has built in little more than a month.
The acquisition follows Stradella 1, 2 and 3, taking the Pavia cluster to approximately 30 MWp across four projects and lifting Zenith's total Italian solar development pipeline to approximately 233 MWp, a further step towards its 240 MWp target for the end of 2026.
The London and Oslo-listed group has been assembling the Lombardy cluster rapidly: it added Stradella 2 and Stradella 3 to the original Stradella 1 site, with the combined 12 hectares for those two projects costing approximately €1.08m, payment due only once the grid operator accepts the technical connection proposal.
The new site, within 300 metres of the motorway network, sits on land designated as an "area idonea" for ground-mounted solar under Italian legislation, qualifying it for the simplified authorisation procedure available to projects below 12 MW in such zones, which carries a statutory municipal review period of 30 to 60 days and exemption from environmental impact assessment.
Zenith expects the project to reach Ready-to-Build status within 10 to 12 months.
The land purchase covers approximately 11 hectares at €98,000 per hectare, for total consideration of approximately €1.078m, payable only once the project achieves Ready-to-Build status, limiting the company's financial exposure until authorisation is secured.
Construction continues on Zenith's 7 MWp Under Construction Portfolio of three solar plants in Puglia, with commissioning and grid connection still targeted before the end of 2026, while the company advances negotiations to sell selected development assets as part of its stated monetisation strategy.
Read more about Zenith Energy
- 28/09/26Zenith Energy buys two more solar sites
- 15/07/26Zenith Energy agrees MoU to sell Piedmont solar portfolio
- 08/06/26Zenith Energy buys 5 MWp Rome PV development for EUR 440,000
Zenith's Torrente Cigno concession produced approximately 1,000 MWh a month and contributed an estimated €440,000 net of operating costs in the third quarter, with the Italian PUN power price index rising from €180 per MWh in August to €208 per MWh in September and tracking at approximately €212 per MWh in October, putting the month on course to be the concession's strongest of the year.
"Four projects and approximately 30 MWp in Pavia in little more than a month gives us real scale in Italy's largest electricity market," said chief executive Andrea Cattaneo, adding that "negotiations on a number of sales are ongoing and, if concluded, could deliver significant revenue around the turn of the year."