Alpiq Group has acquired the Chevire BESS project in western France from Harmony Energy. The asset is a 100 MW / 200 MWh battery located at the Port of Nantes Saint-Nazaire, built on the site of a former fossil-fuel power plant. The facility has been operational since August 2025 and is currently the largest BESS in operation in France.

The key point is not size. It is timing and structure. Alpiq is buying a fully operational, brownfield storage asset with proven performance, while retaining the original developer as asset manager. That materially reduces construction, ramp-up, and optimisation risk at entry.

This matters because French storage revenues remain heavily exposed to ancillary services and flexibility markets. Cash flows depend on dispatch accuracy, availability, and trading optimisation, not contracted capacity payments. By keeping Harmony Energy in place to manage the asset, Alpiq preserves operational continuity and limits downside during early ownership.

The site choice reinforces the same logic. A former coal, gas, and oil plant offers grid access, permitting certainty, and industrial zoning already absorbed. Pair that with Tesla Megapack hardware and Autobidder software, and the asset is positioned for immediate market participation rather than technical learning curves.

The signal is clear. Buyers are prioritising operational BESS, brownfield locations, and post-close operational control over greenfield scale. In France, storage M&A is moving from development optionality to execution certainty.

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