Enel leaves the former power plant of Porto Tolle which will be transformed into a luxury and environmentally oriented tourist village. From Italy to South America: the group announced on Friday that it will carry out a capital increase to raise up to a further 5% - from the current 56,8% - in the capital of Enel Americas, the vault in which the activity in the South American continent
Just as the press release on Enel Americas was being released, the CEO Francesco Starace was in Venice to announce the new destiny of the former Porto Tolle power plant, inserted together with 22 other discontinued power plants in the Futur-E project which envisages their conversion to other uses. The former plant, located on the Po Delta, will be converted in a tourist village capable of welcoming up to 8 tourists a day. The new structure will be built in the center of an area of 110 hectares, 20 of which are woodland.
The Delta Farm project – as the initiative is currently called – will be carried out by Marco Galletti – CEO of Human Company, the company that bought the land from Enel – also in Venice to illustrate the project together with the governor of Veneto Zaia.
Enel's moves are framed in the context of the energy transition underway and the new challenges it opens up. "The growth in electricity demand will be modest, if anything the challenge will be to make the grid more efficient and flexible," said Francesco Starace. "The government's efficiency targets - he continued - foresee that, if the solar and wind systems come into circulation, there will be a need for greater flexibility, rather than additional capacity". Then Starace announced that "the plants of La Spezia, Fusina, Civitavecchia and Brindisi will switch from coal to gas turbines".
The cost of the investment in Porto Tolle must be divided into two chapters: 60 million paid by Human Company for the new tourist settlement, 30 million paid by Enel for the reclamation works. The village "will combine biodiversity and local excellence with accommodation areas for different types of open-air hospitality, from pitches to latest generation mobile homes. Among the main attractions is a multifunctional sports centre, with an area for water sports, and spaces dedicated to well-being through activity programmes, sensory experiences and regenerating workouts”. “We Italians are unbeatable with head and heart, this project will be extraordinary as never seen before. We will respect the environment 100%, we will take care of the naturalistic aspect and that of energy saving”, Claudio Cardini, president of the Human Company group, enthusiastically announced. The tourist oasis is expected to open to tourists in 2023.
Coming instead to Latin America, Enel plans to increase its stake in the listed Chilean subsidiary Enel Américas up to a maximum of 5%, from the current 56,8%. To achieve the goal, the group entered into two new Share Swap agreements with a financial institution to acquire, by the third quarter of 2020, additional ordinary shares and American Depositary Shares (“ADS”) of Enel Américas.
The number of ordinary shares and ADSs of Enel Américas actually purchased by Enel based on the Share Swap Transactions will depend on the ability of the financial institution acting as counterparty to carry out the envisaged hedging within the scope of the Transactions themselves, also by purchasing and exercising the option rights relating to the capital increase approved by the extraordinary shareholders' meeting of Enel Américas held on April 30, 2019. Transactions which - underlines the group's press release - are in line with the 2019-2021 Strategic Plan of the Enel Group presented to the markets .
