Italian utility Enel has published its strategic plan for the years 2025 to 2027 with a focus on onshore wind and dispatchable technologies.
The company’s capital expenditure (capex) for that time period is expected to be around €43 billion (US$45 billion), of which €12 billion in renewables and €26 billion in grids.
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Regarding renewables, Enel targets to add 12GW of capacity between 2025 and 2027, with the majority (over 70%) coming from onshore wind, batteries and hydro.
More strikingly, the company made no mention of solar PV in the role the technology would play in its renewables portfolio for the coming years. Globally, the utility currently has installed 63.7GW of renewable energy capacity and expects to reach 76GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2027.
PV Tech reached out to Enel regarding its shift away from solar PV in the coming years.
In order to enhance the profitability of its renewables portfolio, the utility aims to ‘seize opportunities’ in brownfield assets. Italy and Iberia – Spain and Portugal – will have a nearly even split in terms of capex with 34% and 31%, respectively, while 35% of the investments will be made in North America and Latin America.
Investments in grids for the period between 2025 and 2027 have increased by 40% in comparison to the company’s previous plan. The bulk of that investment will be focused between Italy and Spain, with 78%, due to regulatory frameworks supporting investments, according to Enel. Capex in Italy’s grids will be around €16 billion, while Spain (and Portugal) €4 billion. The remaining 22% of grids investments will be towards Latin America. With these investments the company aims to digitalise its grids, while making them more resilient and efficient.
Europe will be the company’s major focus with 75% of the investments for that time period, while the remaining 25% will be divided between North America and Latin America.
“Distribution networks will continue to be the enablers of the energy transition, requiring higher investments to host the growing renewable capacity as well as guaranteeing increased resilience to extreme weather events that are even more frequent, severe and that have become the new normal due to the effects of climate change.
“In this context, new power market designs and adequate regulatory frameworks will be necessary to remunerate investments and sustain growth both in renewables and grids,” wrote Enel.
During the 2025 and 2027 period, Enel targets a cumulated ordinary earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of over €70 billion, of which €23 billion from power purchase agreements from Latin America and North America, primarily.
