Eni, the Italian major energy company will become a renewables leader in Italy, after an announced acquisition of a whole wind energy portfolio; the company announced this Friday, it acquired 315 megawatts of capacity wind portfolio from Glennmont Partners and PGGM Infrastructure Fund.
Firstly, the portfolio acquired comprises of 13 onshore wind farms in Italy; all of them currently operational and with a total capacity of 315 MW, as said above. In total, the acquired portfolio has 256 wind turbines that entered into operation between 2009 and 2016; they locate in Sicily, Apulia, Basilicata and Abruzzi regions.
Secondly, according to the company’s statement, the transaction also includes the acquisition of a highly skilled team that will provide continued asset management and further portfolio development.
Thirdly, this transaction will position Eni as a top leader in renewable energy in Italy; in fact, the company already has 35MW already under development in Apulia. The portfolio will add to that capacity to a total of 350 MW of clean power capacity.
Moreover, the transaction is part of a broader integration strategy between renewable power generation capacity and Eni gas e luce’s customer base. Consequently, Eni will now have the capacity to meet the energy demand for around 200,000 Italian homes.
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Eni to integrate clean energy with retail business
In addition, BNP Paribas provided financial advisory to Eni for the transaction; which will be subject to standard change of control procedure from the lenders.
On the other hand, the transaction is indeed part of a broader strategy from the company to transition; since last year the company announced its intentions to lower its carbon footprint in favor of cleaner energy sources.
In fact, in April announced plans to spin off its retail and renewable energy businesses as a single entity with a view to a potential listing of sale of a minority stake; as reported by Reuters. To that regard, Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, commented. “This transaction represents an important step forward for Eni’s renewable energy growth; and will enable us to reach 4 GW of installed capacity in 2024; 15 GW in 2030 and also 60 GW in 2050 as planned in our strategy.”
He also said. “On the other hand, we plan to accelerate growth through selective acquisitions; in particular in those countries where we have an existing broad customer base. Through this transaction our clean energy expansion reaches over 1.3 GW of installed and under construction capacity; all of which will be integrated with our retail business; creating a unique player of great value and a high development potential.”
Finally, he remarked. “This transaction demonstrates another significant milestone; as Eni continues on its path towards leading the production and also sale of decarbonized products.”
