Enel Green Power more than doubles global solar capacity in 2016

The renewable energy unit of Italian utility Enel installed 763 MW of additional solar capacity in 2016. Most of this capacity is located in Latin America and South Africa.

March 20, 2017 Emiliano Bellini

A large-scale solar plant commissioned by Enel Green Power in South Africa in February 2017.

Enel Green Power (EGP), the renewable energy subsidiary of Italian power utility Enel, was able to considerably increase its installed solar capacity in 2016. After publishing its financial results for 2016, the press office of the Enel group provided pv magazine with specific figures on last year’s solar business.

According to these numbers, EGP installed 763 MW of new PV capacity last year. Most of this additional capacity, the company said, is located in Latin America and South Africa.

At the end of 2016, the company’s cumulative global installed PV capacity had reached 1,132 MW. Wind power, however, still remains EGP’s largest business with completed projects reaching an aggregate capacity of over 2 GW last year.

In South Africa EGP completed last year the 66 MW Tom Burke photovoltaic power plant, which is located in the Limpopo province. The project has a 20-year power supply agreement with the South African utility Eskom, as part of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

EGP also completed, among other projects, the 160 MW Finis Terrae PV plant in Chile last year. The plant is located in the northern Antofagasta Region and is connected to the nation's Northern Grid (SING).

Meanwhile, Enel reports in its 2016 financial results that revenue from renewable energy generation dropped last year, primarily due to lower revenues from the sale of electricity as a result of lower hydropower output, as well as the effect of the recognition of extraordinary items in 2015, such as the acquisition of the remaining stakes in Italian solar module producer 3Sun.

The Italian utility has recently refocused its renewable energy strategy on renewables and solar through the reintegration of Enel Green Power, which was finalized in early 2016, and the 3Sun transaction.

The group said it intends to introduce a less capital-intensive business model in the renewable energy segment, which will be based on Build, sell and operate (BSO).

Enel’s total revenues for last year amount to €70.59 billion ($75.94 billion), down 6.7% from 2015. The company’s EBIT, however, improved by 16.1% from €7.68 billion ($8.26 billion) in 2015 to €8.92 billion ($9.59 billion) in 2016. Net result also grew 17% year-on-year from €2.19 billion ($2.35 billion) to €2.57 billion ($2.76 billion).

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