The Enel Group’s role in renewable energy goes back decades and will continue in coming years, with geothermal energy, wind energy, solar power and hydro power all a key part of Enel Green Power’s green vision for the future of Italy.
History, tradition, innovation and a vision to the future: the development of Italian renewable energy is thanks to the Enel Group rich with success stories.
In December 1980 Enel put into service Eurelios the first solar concentrated power plant in the world, with a capacity of one megawatt. Located in Adrano in Sicily, it was the first solar power plant that grid-injected the electricity produced by the Sun. In 1994 Enel grid-connected the Serre Persano PV solar power plant near Salerno, which for a long time was Europe’s largest plant of its type with an installed capacity of 3.3MW.
Italy is also the country where geothermal energy was harnessed for the first time for industrial purposes, and is still one of the world’s major geothermal power producers. It has become a reason of pride for Italy’s energy industry and is a jewel in Enel Green Power’s crown. In Tuscany, EGP manages one of the largest geothermal complexes in the world, with 34 plants with a total of 769 net MW producing more than 5 terawatt-hours per year, meeting 26 percent of the region’s energy needs and the average annual needs of around two million Italian households. Moreover, EGP provides heat to more than 8,700 homes and business premises and about 25 hectares of greenhouses.
EGP also has a strong tradition in hydropower, managing some 300 plants across Italy with an installed capacity of 1.513 MW, while wind power has grown the fastest in Italy over the last decade. EGP has played a significant role in that: beginning with the first Italian wind farm that Enel built in 1984 at Alta Nurra in Sardinia, the company now manages wind farms with a total capacity of 720 MW.