Oil major Eni expands on US solar interest

Eni's new clean energy strategy has seen it target 55GW of operational renewable capacity by 2050. Image: Eni.

Italian oil major Eni has bolstered its exposure to clean energy in the US after its Falck Renewables-led joint venture acquired project developer Building Energy US.

Novis Renewables, a JV held 49% by Eni and 51% by Falck, has signed an agreement to acquire the US-facing business of Building Energy. Included in the transaction are 62MW of operational wind and solar projects in the US, a pipeline of wind projects and a development and asset management team based in the country.

The US$32.5 million deal is expected to close before the year’s end.

The operational portfolio comprises five solar projects located throughout the US and a sole wind farm in Iowa, which Falck Renewables’ North America division will provide technical and administrative asset management for post-transaction.

The deal builds upon Eni’s existing exposure to solar in the US which is driven predominantly by its partnership with Falck. Having an overall portfolio which stands at around 112.5MW, it expects to have an overall capacity of 1GW of renewables in the country by 2023.

Eni’s wider renewable strategy has seen the company establish a global capacity target of 3GW by 2023, more than 15GW by 2030 and 55GW by 2050.

Falck and Eni penned the US-facing agreement in December last year and this purchase represents the first major deal to be struck. Toni Volpe, chief executive at Falck Renewables, said it “fits squarely into our joint business plan”.

”For Eni, the acquisition of BEHUS is another step forward in our decarbonisation strategy, that is increasingly driving our company towards the development and production of energy from renewable sources,” Massimo Mondazzi, general manager at Eni’s Energy Evolution business unit, said.

Tags: eni, us, m&a, falck renewables, finance, utility-scale solar, iowa