Project stages, and what actually changes hands at each
Investors looking at Italy tend to search by stage rather than by technology, and the same four words come back every time: greenfield, development, ready to build, built. They describe how much paperwork exists, nothing more. This page says what sits behind each of them.
The paperwork is the asset
At every stage before construction, what is being sold is a file. The land agreement, the connection, the authorisation and the studies behind them. The plant itself comes last and is the easy part.
Each stage adds one thing to the file, and each addition is what moves the price. A project described as further along than its documents is not a bargain, it is a different project.
The four stages
| Greenfield | A site and an idea. The land has been identified and, at best, secured by a preliminary agreement; the connection has been looked at but not applied for. The buyer takes on the whole of the development risk, and pays accordingly. |
|---|---|
| Development | The connection application has been filed and the authorisation route is under way. Land control is contractual rather than aspirational. The outcome is still uncertain — a constraint can appear at any point — but the questions are now specific. |
| Ready to build | Authorisation obtained, connection solution accepted, land secured for the life of the plant. In principle construction could start. In practice this is the term most often stretched, which is why it has its own section below. |
| Built and connected | The plant exists, is registered and is producing. What is sold here is an operating asset with a history, and the due diligence changes character entirely: performance data replaces assumptions. |
These descriptions are general and indicative. What a specific project holds is established by the documents in its data room and verified by the professional advisers appointed for the transaction. Nothing on this page is an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security, financial instrument or participation, nor is it investment advice.
“Ready to build” is not a defined term
No Italian statute defines it. It is market shorthand, and different sellers stretch it to different lengths: some mean authorisation issued and connection accepted, some mean authorisation issued and the rest in progress, some mean an authorisation that is issued but still within the window in which it can be challenged.
The way through is not to argue about the label. It is to ask for the four documents and read the dates on them: the land title or surface right, the accepted connection solution, the authorisation itself, and the studies the authorisation was granted on. Everything else follows from those.
The Italian terms you will meet in those documents are set out in the glossary, and the sequence we follow when a project reaches you is described under how we work.
Questions we are asked first
Which stage carries the best risk-adjusted entry?
That depends entirely on what you are equipped to carry, and it is not a question we answer for you — we are not investment advisers. What we can do is be precise about what a given project holds, so the judgement is yours and it is informed.
Can a project move backwards a stage?
Yes. An authorisation can be challenged, a connection offer can lapse if it is not accepted in time, a land agreement can expire. Stage is a description of the current file, not a ratchet.
Do you work at every stage?
The firms we introduce handle sites from raw land and projects already under way alike. What we do not do is develop projects ourselves, at any stage.
Tell us which stage you are looking for
And whether you would rather carry development risk or buy it out. We will tell you honestly whether this is something we can help with.