Enel Will Separate Renewable-Energy Business, May Sell Stake
By Adam L. Freeman and Anthony DiPaola
March 13 (Bloomberg) — Enel SpA, Italys largest utility,
will separate its renewable-energy unit and may sell a minority
stake in the business as the industry benefits from government
incentives and pressure to cut pollution.
“We are doing really good things by putting this together
and deciding how we can make value out of it Chief Executive
Officer Fulvio Conti said today at a presentation in London. A
portion of the business may be sold in a stock sale or to a
private-equity company in 2009, he said.
Enel will spend 6.8 billion euros in the five years through
2012 on technologies such as wind farms, solar power, and carbon
capture and storage. Thats 70 percent more than a renewable-
energy investment plan announced in December 2006.
European competitors including Electricite de France SA have
separated and sold stock in energy businesses as they seek
cleaner ways to generate electricity and governments offer
incentives for power plants that dont emit polluting gases.
Enels new unit wont include large hydroelectric generators
or assets belonging to Endesa SA, the Spanish utility it bought
last year. The Rome-based company will more than double its
installed renewable-energy capacity to 7,382 megawatts by 2012
from 3,113 megawatts at the end of last year, according to
todays presentation.
The bulk of the new assets will come from wind generation,
which will increase almost sixfold to 4,752 megawatts of
installed capacity, from 857 megawatts.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Adam L. Freeman in Rome at
afreeman5@bloomberg.net;
Anthony DiPaola in London at
adipaola@bloomberg.net.
