Italy’s MACSE auction just rewrote the rules for battery storage in Europe. Here’s how serious operators will manage BESS assets and still make money.
Italy’s MACSE Is A Warning Shot For Battery Owners
Terna’s first MACSE auction in Italy cleared 10GWh of long-duration BESS at prices that made a lot of developers nervous and forced everyone to sharpen their pencils on operations. Enel alone walked away with just over half of that capacity.
Here’s the thing about MACSE: the prices are low, the performance obligations are tight, and the contracts are long. If you treat these projects like “fit and forget” infrastructure, the economics will quietly fall apart.
For anyone serious about green technology and grid‑scale storage in Europe, MACSE is a preview of how the market will work: thin margins, high complexity, and zero tolerance for sloppy asset management. The winners won’t just be the cheapest builders; they’ll be the best operators.
This matters because battery energy storage systems (BESS) are now central to clean energy integration, not a side-show. As PV and wind surge across Europe, storage is what turns variable renewables into reliable capacity. But only if the assets are run with discipline.
In this post, I’ll break down what MACSE signals about the future of BESS asset management in Europe, how owners can actually make money under these conditions, and where AI-driven optimisation fits into the picture.
What MACSE Tells Us About The Next Wave Of BESS
MACSE isn’t just another auction; it’s a template.
Terna has structured MACSE as a long‑term capacity procurement scheme for battery storage, targeting around 50GWh over multiple rounds. The first 10GWh auction closed in September 2025 with:
- State‑backed heavyweight Enel winning just over half of the contracted capacity
- Very competitive prices, squeezed by intense bidding
- Strict operational requirements on availability, responsiveness, and duration
The signal is clear: Europe is moving from “build it and get paid well for being early” to “operate flawlessly or watch your returns disappear.”
For asset owners and investors, MACSE crystallises three realities:
- Capacity revenue will be fought over. As more players pile into storage, auctions clear lower. Margin must be found in better design and smarter operations.
- Performance risk is now contract risk. Under‑performance isn’t a rounding error; it’s a direct hit via penalties and missed revenues.
- Portfolio scale cuts both ways. Having gigawatts of BESS, like Enel, spreads risk and unlocks operational synergies, but it also multiplies the consequences of weak asset management.
The MACSE model will influence how other European TSOs structure their own schemes. If you’re planning utility‑scale storage in Spain, Germany, the UK, or the Nordics, assume a MACSE‑like world: low prices, demanding obligations, and regulators expecting professional, data‑driven operations.
Why Traditional Asset Management Breaks Under MACSE
Most companies get BESS asset management wrong because they treat battery projects like conventional power plants or solar farms. That mindset doesn’t survive under schemes like MACSE.
Batteries are dynamic, degradable, and software‑defined. Asset management has to reflect that.
The Four Failure Modes Under High‑Pressure Schemes
If you run a MACSE‑style BESS like a static asset, you tend to run into four problems:
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Degradation mismanagement
Operators chase short‑term revenue (e.g. arbitrage or frequency services) with aggressive cycling, only to realise the battery loses usable capacity years earlier than the financial model assumed. In a long‑term contract, that’s deadly. -
Under‑monitored performance
Monthly reports and basic KPIs aren’t enough. Without granular analytics, you don’t catch losses from parasitic consumption, software glitches, or sub‑optimal dispatch strategies. -
Fragmented responsibilities
OEMs, optimisers, traders, O&M providers, and owners all manage “their piece”. No one owns the full value chain from battery cell health to market revenue. Under MACSE, that fragmentation turns into finger‑pointing when penalties kick in. -
Static operating strategies
Markets move. Regulation shifts. Grid conditions change. Fixed operating modes baked into initial contracts quickly become misaligned with real‑world economics.
The reality? BESS asset management has to be active, data‑rich, and software‑first, or you’re effectively subsidising your competitors.
What “Good” BESS Asset Management Looks Like Now
Under schemes like MACSE, high‑performing owners treat BESS portfolios more like digital products than concrete infrastructure.
Here’s what that looks like in practice.
1. Health‑Aware Dispatch, Not Just Revenue‑Max Dispatch
The top operators don’t just optimise for daily revenue; they optimise for lifetime value.
That means dispatch strategies that:
- Limit high‑C‑rate spikes that accelerate degradation
- Avoid deep cycles where the value doesn’t justify the wear
- Use state‑of‑health (SoH) estimates in near‑real time to adapt constraints
A simple example: an algorithm might give up the last 5–10% of possible revenue from daily arbitrage to extend effective battery life by 2–3 years. Under a 10–15 year MACSE‑style contract, that trade can be extremely profitable.
2. Full‑Stack Performance Monitoring
Best‑in‑class asset management platforms ingest data from:
- The BMS (cell and rack level data)
- PCS/inverter systems
- Site SCADA
- Market and grid signals
They then calculate:
- Round‑trip efficiency by segment
- Availability by component
- Degradation vs. expected curves
- True net revenue after losses and penalties
If you can’t answer, “Why did this site underperform by 3% last month, and how do we fix it?”, you don’t yet have real asset management.
3. Integrated Commercial and Technical Decisions
Bid strategies, maintenance plans, and asset reconfiguration can’t sit in different silos.
Stronger BESS operators have cross‑functional teams (or platforms) that align:
- Commercial – which products to bid into, at what risk level
- Technical – how those bids stress the asset, and what limits to apply
- Financial – how degradation, penalties, and repowering affect IRR
MACSE just makes that integration non‑negotiable. You’re paid for being there when the system needs you; your commercial strategy has to respect what the battery can safely deliver in year 1 and year 10.
The Growing Role Of AI And Software In Green Technology BESS
For a series focused on green technology, this is where things get interesting. AI is becoming the quiet backbone of profitable, low‑carbon storage portfolios.
Where AI Actually Adds Value (And Where It Doesn’t)
You don’t need AI for everything. But it’s extremely useful in a few places:
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Forecasting and revenue optimisation
- Day‑ahead and intra‑day price forecasting
- Probability‑based assessment of imbalances and constraint events
- Scenario‑based optimisation of which markets to participate in, and when
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Predictive maintenance
- Anomaly detection on cell temperatures, voltages, and impedance
- Predictive failure models for inverters, transformers, HVAC
- Early detection reduces forced outages that trigger MACSE‑style penalties
-
Degradation modelling
- Learning from historical cycling and environmental data to refine asset‑specific degradation curves, rather than relying on generic OEM assumptions.
Where AI is over‑sold: one‑click “autopilot” tools that pretend you can outsource responsibility. Human oversight still matters. The best setups I’ve seen pair data‑driven automation with clear accountability from a portfolio operations team.
Why This Matters For The Energy Transition
In Europe’s decarbonisation plans, long‑duration BESS is essential to integrating high shares of solar and wind without relying on fossil backup. But green technology only scales if it’s financially sustainable.
Schemes like MACSE push the sector in the right direction: they reward reliable, efficient assets that genuinely support the grid. AI‑assisted asset management is what makes that both technically and commercially viable.
If you’re serious about sustainability, this is the boring but crucial part of the story: smart software, clean data, and disciplined operations are what turn batteries from speculative bets into dependable tools for a low‑carbon grid.
How European Owners Can Prepare For MACSE‑Style Markets
You don’t need to be in Italy to learn from MACSE. Here’s a practical checklist I’d use if I were managing or investing in European BESS today.
1. Stress‑Test Your Business Case Against Tougher Rules
Assume:
- Lower capacity prices in future auctions
- Higher expectations on availability and duration
- More intrusive performance monitoring from TSOs
Then ask:
- Does the project still meet your return thresholds under stricter penalties?
- What happens if degradation is 20% worse than modelled?
- How much value is at risk from just 2–3% availability loss per year?
If your answer is “we don’t know”, you’ve found your first asset management priority.
2. Build Or Buy Proper Asset Management Capability
You need either an in‑house team or a specialist partner who can own:
- Performance analytics and reporting
- Health‑aware dispatch and optimisation
- Warranty and contract compliance
- O&M coordination and incident response
Most portfolios are now big enough that spreadsheet‑driven management is a liability. A dedicated BESS asset management platform – ideally with AI‑driven features – isn’t a luxury, it’s table stakes.
3. Design For Operability, Not Just Capex
There’s a temptation to squeeze every euro out of EPC cost. Under MACSE‑like schemes, that can be a false economy.
When you’re specifying systems, prioritise:
- Robust thermal management to protect cell health in Southern European heat
- Modular designs that simplify future augmentation or repowering
- Instrumentation that gives you rich data, not just minimalist compliance
You’re not building a monument; you’re building an asset that has to hit contractual performance targets every day for a decade or more.
4. Plan The Endgame: Repowering And Second Life
In long‑term tenders, the tail matters. Good asset managers already have a repowering and end‑of‑life strategy baked into their plans:
- When will augmentation be needed to maintain contracted energy?
- How will you handle cell replacement vs. full system retrofit?
- Can modules move into second‑life applications once they’re no longer MACSE‑grade?
This is where green technology meets circularity. Smart planning reduces waste, improves lifecycle emissions, and can add a final layer of revenue.
Where This Fits In The Green Technology Story
Battery asset management doesn’t get the same attention as shiny new chemistries or mega‑projects, but it quietly decides whether green technology actually delivers.
MACSE shows Europe stepping into a more mature phase: more storage, tougher rules, smarter operations. Owners who embrace data‑driven, AI‑enabled BESS management will not only survive this shift – they’ll set the benchmark for reliable, low‑carbon capacity.
If you’re building or investing in storage today, treat MACSE as your reality check. Are your projects ready for a world where your batteries are judged, day in day out, on how well they support a renewable grid under pressure?
The next wave of green technology leaders in Europe won’t just be the ones who build big. They’ll be the ones who operate brilliantly.