Eni inaugurates a unique model of integration between traditional business and the production of energy from renewable sources. In Italy, Pakistan and Egypt, the company will build the former electricity generation projects from renewable sources, locating them at its own plants and industrial areas in order to take advantage of all the possible logistical, contractual and commercial synergies with the company's traditional activities, and to redevelop and enhance currently unused industrial areas. “We could become the third largest PV electricity producer and one of the top ten in Europe,” she said. Claudio Descalzi talks about Eni's renewable energy project in an interview with Corriere della Sera.
“It is an unprecedented model – writes Eni in a note – of reusing abandoned, reclaimed or unused industrial areas, which are relaunched through the construction of zero-emission energy generation plants. Thus, the third pillar of Eni's strategy takes shape to contribute to the energy transition towards a low-carbon future, based not only on the promotion of renewable energies, but also on the reduction of CO2 emissions in the context of the production of hydrocarbons and on the maximizing the use of gas, the cleanest of the fossil fuels, as a privileged source in the generation of electricity”.
In Italy, Eni intends to benefit from the collaboration with Syndial, which operates in the reclamation sector and owns over 4.000 hectares of land in the country, enhancing the reclaimed industrial areas that are not usable or of little economic interest. The project, known as Progetto Italia, involves the revitalization of the sites through large-scale initiatives and investments in zero-emission energy production projects.
In the context of Italy project, Eni has identified preliminarily over 400 hectares of land available distributed in six regions (Liguria, Sardinia, Sicily, Calabria, Puglia and Basilicata). The plan includes two phases: the first relates to the development of five projects, located respectively in Assemini, Porto Torres, Manfredonia, Priolo and Augusta, for a total installed power of approximately 70 megawatts; the second phase is based on the development of other projects for an additional installed capacity of approximately 150 megawatts.
Most of the initiatives will be based on photovoltaics, but the use of other technologies such as those based on biomass and concentrated solar power will also be considered. Overall, the Progetto Italia plans to install more than 2022 megawatts of new capacity between now and 220. From an environmental point of view, Progetto Italia will make it possible to avoid CO2 emissions of approximately 180 tonnes per year.
This business model, which Eni has already tested in the former ISAAF area of Gela where, under a permanent safety regime, it installed 2013 megawatts of solar energy capacity in 5, is also particularly effective from a management point of view: by exploiting the flexibility of Enipower's gas plants, in fact, Eni will be able to optimize its electricity supply, overcoming the intermittence limits of renewables, making the gas-renewables combination concrete in Italy and laying the foundations for its diffusion abroad.
“We could become the third largest photovoltaic electricity producer and one of the top ten in Europe”, explained CEO Claudio Descalzi in an interview with Corriere della Sera.
In Pakistan, Eni intends to build a 50 megawatt photovoltaic plant at the Kadanwari gas field. The energy produced will be marketed on the Pakistani national grid. The company expects to be able to put the plant into operation by the end of 2017.
In Egypt, Eni aims to build a photovoltaic plant near the Belaiym field, with an installed power of up to 150 megawatts. The energy produced will be destined in part to satisfy the energy demand of the field and in part to the domestic grid.
