Ardian Evergreen Fund Acquires 116-MW Italian Solar Portfolio under FiTs

• Ardian’s Clean Energy Evergreen Fund acquires a 116-MW portfolio of 117 Italian solar plants under 20-year Conto Energia feed-in tariffs, strengthening its 400-MW operating fleet.

Private-equity heavyweight Ardian has deepened its presence in Italy’s booming photovoltaic market, purchasing a 116-MW portfolio of 117 operating solar parks through its open-ended Clean Energy Evergreen Fund (ACEEF). All of the plants benefit from the long-dated Conto Energia feed-in-tariff (FiT) regime, giving the fund stable, index-linked revenues for the remainder of the 20-year support period. Many assets have already been repowered with Tier-1 modules and new inverters, boosting output and extending asset life, Ardian said in a statement.

The parks are scattered across several Italian regions and boast more than a decade of operating history, meaning construction risks are long behind them. Day-to-day performance and further optimisation will be handled by InEnergy Group, ACEEF’s Milan-based platform that now oversees about 400 MW of renewables in operation and an additional 400 MW under development. Ardian plans to deploy its digital OPTA tool to squeeze extra yield from the fleet while exploring hybridisation with battery storage and future repowering rounds.

Italy remains Europe’s third-largest solar market. It installed 6.8 GW of new PV capacity in 2024, lifting cumulative installations to 37 GW and setting the stage for another record year despite permitting headwinds. Although Rome’s generous FiT programme closed to new entrants in 2013, some 18 GW of legacy plants still harvest fixed premiums for twenty years, making portfolios like Ardian’s prized, low-risk infrastructure plays.

Ardian’s infrastructure managing director Federico Gotti Tedeschi called the deal “a textbook fit” for the evergreen fund: “Highly contracted, brownfield assets with clear upside from repowering and hybridisation.” He added that ACEEF’s perpetual structure lets the firm execute long-term value-creation plans rather than chase quick exits.

Market observers note growing interest from institutional capital in FiT-backed assets as European power prices normalise. “With fixed offtake and proven cash flows, these plants behave more like inflation-protected bonds than merchant renewable assets,” commented Giulia Bianchi, an analyst at research house Solarplaza.

No financial terms were disclosed, but comparable trades this year have valued Italian FiT portfolios at €1.0-1.2 million per MW, implying a ticket size north of €110 million. The acquisition takes ACEEF’s total renewables capacity past 1.4 GW across Europe and the Americas and underscores Ardian’s ambition to scale an Italian platform capable of driving the next wave of repowering, battery storage and green-hydrogen projects.