Eni Plenitude, the clean energy investment arm of Italian energy firm Eni, has acquired an 80% stake in a portfolio of US projects from EDP Renewables, which accounts for a power generation capacity of 272MW.
The company completed the deal through its US subsidiary, Eni New Energy US, and will see the firm acquire a majority stake in the portfolio, which has a total capacity of 340MW. The portfolio consists of the Timber Road and Blue Harvest projects in Ohio and the Cattlemen project in Texas, and the three facilities are currently under construction.
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“This transaction represents Plenitude’s entry into the PJM energy market in Ohio with already operational, medium to large size projects and consolidates the company’s presence in Texas,” said Plenitude CEO Stefano Goberti, discussing how the deal represents the company’s first involvement in the energy grid that covers 13 states in the eastern US and the District of Colombia.
“The agreement allows Plenitude to reach over 1.2GW of installed capacity in the US contributing to the goal of reaching 7GW worldwide by 2026.”
The deal forms part of Plenitude’s long-term decarbonisation goals, which include the installation of 15GW of renewable capacity by 2030, up from 3GW in operation today. Solar projects are becoming an increasingly integral part of the US energy transition, with the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) expecting solar to account for 5.6% of the country’s energy mix by 2024, increasing to 7% by the following year.
Trade body the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie also estimate that the US added a record of 33GW of new capacity in 2030, and expect solar to be the largest source of generating capacity on the US grid by 2050, a timeframe that aligns with many of the clean energy targets set by the world’s governments.
However, questions remain as to the long-term financial viability of the US solar sector, and its manufacturing sub-sector in particular, with a lawsuit raised by Auxin Solar this week raising uncertainty as to the profitability of solar manufacturing located in the US and the availability of solar components in the coming years.