Enel Green Power awarded 106.3 MW of hydro, wind capacity in GSE’s second auction

Enel Green Power was awarded 68 MW of new renewable capacity for two wind projects and 38.3 MW of nominal capacity from the repowering of operational hydroelectric plants in the second renewable auction launched by Italian state-owned energy service company GSE (Gestore Servizi Energetici).

The company participated in the 500-MW tender for new wind and solar projects and the 98.5-MW tender for renovations of renewable plants with a capacity exceeding 1 MW.

The upgrading and useful life extension concerns three hydro plants operating in Castiglione dei Pepoli (Bologna), Civitella in Val di Chiana (Arezzo) and Montecreto (Modena). The two wind farms are located in Campania and Basilicata. The specific names and generating capacities of the plants were not disclosed.

“With this second award we confirm the commitment to invest in new renewable capacity in Italy, contributing to the challenging decarbonization objectives of the Enel Group and the country,” said Antonio Cammisecra, chief executive officer of Enel Green Power and head of the Global Power Generation business line. “Thanks to our development strategy, in 2019 the Group’s installed capacity from renewables exceeded that from thermal sources globally, marking a further step forward towards the progressive replacement of fossil fuels with zero-emission ones.”

Adding new capacity and upgrading existing plants in Italy is part of the wider commitment of the Enel Group^[1] to the growth of renewables and to decarbonization. This commitment foresees, in the 2020 to 2022 period, the development of new renewable capacity in Italy of about 700 MW and for which EGP has developed a pipeline of about 1.3 GW of opportunities that can start operating in the same period.

Enel Green Power, within the Enel Group, is dedicated to the development, construction and operation of renewable energy plants and is present in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania. In Italy, EGP manages a total renewable capacity of over 14 GW, equal to about half of the capacity managed by the group in the country. In 2019, Enel produced around 24 TWh in the country from renewables, equal to 52% of its production and 21% of the national energy production from renewables. Enel Green Power has a managed capacity of over 46 GW, with a production mix that includes wind, solar, geothermal and hydro.