Italy's Enel finalises sale of several US green assets to Ormat (updated)
04/01/2024 15:34
(Adds details in paragraphs 8-9)
By Francesca Landini
MILAN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Enel ENEI.MI finalised the
sale of a renewable asset portfolio in the United States to
Ormat Technologies ORA.N for $271 million, Italy's biggest
utility said on Thursday.
The deal, announced last year, is part of the group's
efforts to trim its debt and streamline its presence abroad.
Under the agreement, Enel is divesting its entire geothermal
portfolio in the United States along with a number of small
solar plants, for a total capacity of 150 megawatts (MW).
The move is expected to have a positive effect worth about
250 million euros ($274 million) on Enel's consolidated net debt
but negatively impact, by around 30 million euros, the group's
reported net income, the group said in a statement.
It will not have any impact on the utility's ordinary
economic results, it added.
Enel's renewable consolidated capacity after the deal
amounts to around 9.7 gigawatts (GW) in North America.
Presenting the updated strategy for the group, new CEO
Flavio Cattaneo said in November that Enel would drop a plan to
develop an extensive network of electric car charging points
while it would press on with the idea of building a solar panel
factory in the United States together with a U.S. partner.
At the time, Cattaneo said the group was evaluating the
possibility of a partnership that would allow the potential new
solar panel factory to benefit from the support of the Biden
administration for energy transition ventures.
Under its previous CEO, Enel had said it would set up a
solar cell and panel factory in Oklahoma near Tulsa to produce 3
gigawatts of solar products annually, with the first panels
rolling off the line by the end of 2024.
($1 = 0.9135 euro)
(Reporting by Francesca Landini; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
((francesca.landini@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 66129437;
Reuters Messaging: reutersitaly.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))