Enel plans solar tracker factory as part of plant reconversion plans

Comal SpA

17/02/2022 12:49

MILAN, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Italy's Enel  ENEI.MI  has reached
a deal to build a solar tracker factory at a giant power plant
it is converting into a green energy hub as part of plans to cut
its carbon footprint.
    Europe's biggest utility said on Thursday that Italian solar
power company Comal  CMLA.MI  would build the factory to make
tracker devices - which allow solar panels to follow the sun
throughout the day - at the Montalto di Castro power plant in
southern Italy.
    The move is part of Enel's plans to redevelop disused power
plants and create new renewable energy and storage facilities
alongside other business projects.
    Enel, which has pledged to phase out its coal-fired plants
by 2027, is looking to cut its global emissions by 80% from 2017
levels by 2030 and aims to have a wholly green power portfolio
by 2040.
    Comal's factory for the tracker devices will be built in a
30,000 square metre (322,917 sq. ft) area at the site which is
being wound down.
    Oil-fired capacity at Montalto di Castro has already been
mothballed but gas-fired turbines still generate power when
needed by the grid.
    Enel, which had 12.4 gigawatts of conventional capacity in
Italy as of the end of last September, has applied for permits
to build a 10 megawatt solar plant at the site which used to
have a gross capacity of around 3.6 GW.

 (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Susan Fenton)
 ((stephen.jewkes@thomsonreuters.com; +39.0266129695; Reuters
Messaging: stephen.jewkes.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))