An aggressive investor in Latin American renewables, Enel has announced its updated plan for 2017-2019, and if all works out to plan, the Italian utility will be in a very good position. In its updated plan, ENEL SpA has expanded its earnings targets with an aggressive capital-expenditure program for 6.7 GW of renewable energy capacity. And that’s just over the next three years, which probably makes ENEL the largest single investor globally at the moment in such capacity.
Of crucial note here: ENEL is spending heavily in overseas markets.
The company plan, announced in late November, has ENEL switching to a less capital-intensive “build, sell and operate” (BSO) business model that will allow it to gain returns on its renewables pipeline more quickly, reduce its overall risk profile and crystallize value creation earlier.
In Brazil, ENEL through its subsidiary ENEL Green Power Brasil Participações Ltda. (EGPB), has started construction on the 292-megawatt Nova Olinda solar power plant, a $300 million project that will be the biggest in Latin America once it comes on line. EGPB currently has a total installed capacity of 546 megawatts, of which 401 come from wind, 12 from solar, and 133 from hydro. The company has an additional 442 MW of wind, 102 MW of hydro, and 807 MW of solar in its development pipeline.
