Enel S.p.A. is an Italian
multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. Enel, which originally stood for Ente nazionale per l'energia elettrica (National Electricity Board), was first established as a
public body
A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...
at the end of 1962, and then transformed into a
limited company
In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...
in 1992.
In 1999, following the
liberalisation
Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used m ...
of the
electricity market
In a broad sense, an electricity market is a system that facilitates the exchange of electricity-related goods and services. During more than a century of evolution of the electric power industry, the economics of the electricity markets had un ...
in Italy, Enel was
privatised
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
. The Italian state, through the
Ministry of Economy and Finance, is the main shareholder, with 23.6% of the share capital as of 1 April 2016.
Enel is the 73rd largest company in the world by revenue, with 88 billion in 2021.
As of 2018, Enel is also the second largest power company in the world by revenue after the
State Grid Corporation of China
The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), commonly known as the State Grid, is a Chinese state-owned electric utility corporation. It is the largest utility company in the world, and as of 2022, the world's third largest company overall by re ...
. The company is quoted on the
FTSE MIB
The FTSE MIB (Milano Indice di Borsa) (the S&P/MIB prior to June 2009) is the benchmark stock market index for the Borsa Italiana, the Italian national stock exchange, which superseded the MIB-30 in September 2004. The index consists of the 40 mo ...
index on the
Milan Stock Exchange
Borsa Italiana, based in Milan, is the Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries and supervising disclosures for listed companies.italy24.ils ...
.
History
1898–1962: Towards a national policy for electricity
![Centrale elettrica EAV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Centrale_elettrica_EAV.JPG)
In 1898, the production of electricity in Italy was 100
GWh
A kilowatt-hour (unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bil ...
, and had a value of over $56 billion by 1960. The majority of the electricity was produced by regional private companies,
or by companies linked to other industrial bodies,
that were both local and regional, by exploiting the specific characteristics of the territory: its
hydrogeological
Hydrogeology (''hydro-'' meaning water, and ''-geology'' meaning the study of the Earth) is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust (commonly in aquif ...
resources.
The state subsidised the construction of
power stations
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many pow ...
and other necessary construction work in a territory in order to increase the production of
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
. In 1961, the state regulated distribution with unified national tariffs set on the basis of equal consumption classes (through the Equalisation Fund for the Electricity Sector
), and by requiring power companies to provide access to electricity for everyone.
In 1962, the government institutionalised the Entity for electricity with the aim of making electricity a means for the development of the country and in order to define a national policy for electricity based on the experiences of other countries such as France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
1962: Establishment of the National Electricity Board
At the beginning of 1962, the Fanfani IV Cabinet
The Fanfani IV Cabinet was the 17th cabinet of the Italian Republic, which held office from 22 February 1962 to 22 June 1963, for a total of 485 days, or 1 year and 4 months.
The government was presented to the chambers on 2 March 1962. The trust ...
committed the government to put together a proposal for the unification of the national electricity system within three months of the parliament passing a confidence motion.
During the Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
assembly of 26 June 1962, the government presented a bill that sanctioned the principles and procedures for the establishment of the ''Ente Nazionale per l'energia Elettrica'' (E.N.EL).
According to the bill, Enel was going to acquire all assets of companies producing, processing, transmitting, and distributing electricity, with the exception of self-producers—companies that produced more than 70% of their electricity for other production processes—(the same exception was later applied to municipal authorities), and of small businesses that did not produce more than 10 million kilowatt hour
A kilowatt-hour (unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bil ...
s per year.
Procedures to assess the value of the acquired companies were defined, and it was established that compensation was to be paid to creditors in 10 years at an interest rate of 5.5%. Within this framework, 1962 was to be considered a transition year, in which all income and expenses of the acquired companies would be transferred to Enel. 1963 was thus the first operational year of the newly formed company.
The first companies to be acquired were: SIP (Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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), Edison Volta (Lombardy
Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
), SADE
Sade may refer to:
People
* Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine
* Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band
* Sade Baderinwa (born 1969), WAB ...
(Veneto
Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona.
Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...
), SELT-Valdarno (Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze'').
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...
), SRE (Lazio
it, Laziale
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), SME
SME may refer to:
Economics
* Small and medium-sized enterprises
* Socialist market economy, an economic system of China
Organizations Music
* SME Limited, UK audio turntable manufacturer
* Sony Music Entertainment, US
* Spontaneous Music Ensembl ...
(Campania
Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...
), SGES (Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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, demographics1_footnotes =
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), and Carbosarda (Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
).
1963–1970: Modernization and development of the network
Enel's early goals were the modernization and development of the electricity grid
An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...
with the construction of a high voltage power lines backbone, international connections, connections to the islands, rural electrification
Rural electrification is the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas. Rural communities are suffering from colossal market failures as the national grids fall short of their demand for electricity. As of 2017, over 1 billion ...
, and the creation of a national centre for dispatching. These projects were to be co-financed by the state through the issuing, in 1965, of bonds valued over 200 billion Italian lira
The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...
s. In 1967, Enel, which was originally supervised by the Committee of Ministers, began to be overseen by the inter-ministerial Committee for Economic Planning (CIPE), under the Ministry of Industry. During this period, production from thermal power station
A thermal power station is a type of power station in which heat energy is converted to electrical energy. In a steam-generating cycle heat is used to boil water in a large pressure vessel to produce high-pressure steam, which drives a stea ...
s surpassed, for the very first time, that of hydroelectric power
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
.
In 1963, the National Dispatch Centre of Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
was created, to manage the energy network by coordinating the production plants, the transmission network
Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is ...
, the distribution Distribution may refer to:
Mathematics
*Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations
* Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...
, as well as the interconnection of the Italian electricity system with that of foreign countries, by adjusting in real time the production and transmission of energy on the basis of actual demand.
In terms of rural electrification, the settlements that were not connected to the electricity grid declined from 1.27% in 1960 to 0.46% in 1964, with over 320,000 new residents being connected.
In the five-year period between 1966 and 1970, further investments for rural electrification were made, where 80% of the costs were covered by the state and 20% by Enel, part of those costs being incurred by reducing some rates as an incentive for agricultural development.
In 1968, the construction of the 380 kV high-voltage connection between Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
and Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
began, with the aim of joining the high voltage electrical system of the north with that of the centre and the south. Around the same time, international high voltage connections with France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
(380 kV Venaus-Villarodin, 1969) and Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
were also put in place. In the same year, undersea electrical cables were put in place to connect the peninsula and the islands of Elba
Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National ...
(1966), Ischia
Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately east to west ...
(1967), and Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
through Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
(1967).
In 1963, Enel was involved in the Vajont Dam
The Vajont Dam (or Vaiont Dam) is a disused dam in northern Italy. It is one of the tallest dams in the world, with a height of . It is in the valley of the Vajont River under Monte Toc, in the municipality of Erto e Casso, north of Venice.
...
disaster. On 9 October 1963, a huge landslide of 260 million cubic metres fell into the reservoir formed by the dam. The dam and power plant had been built by the Società Adriatica di Elettricità (the Adriatic Electricity Company, or SADE) and then sold to Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invention ...
, and it had just been transferred as part of the nationalisation process to the newly established Enel. The landslide created huge waves in the Vajont reservoir, which partially flooded the villages of Erto e Casso
Erto e Casso (local fur, Nert and ) is an Italian municipality in the Province of Pordenone in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about northwest of Pordenone.
Geography
The commune consists of Ert ...
and swept over the dam, completely wiping out the towns in the valley below it: Longarone
Longarone is a town and ''comune'' on the banks of the Piave in the province of Belluno, in northeast Italy. It is situated from Belluno.
4,642 people work all together in Longarone, which is 112.62% of the total population, with most actual in ...
, Pirago, Rivalta, Villanova and Faè. Approximately two thousand people died in the disaster. Enel and Montedison were charged in the ensuing trial as the companies responsible for the disaster, a responsibility considered all more serious because of the predictability of the event. The two companies were forced to pay damages to the communities involved in the catastrophe.
1970–1989: Energy crisis and search for new sources
The decade of the 1970s was distinguished by a major energy crisis
An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular, those that supply n ...
that led the company to implement drastic austerity
Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...
measures, and the establishment of a national energy plan that defined the objectives of both building new power plants and searching for new energy sources
Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse ...
.
In 1975, as a result of the 1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...
and the austerity measures, and following the establishment of the first National Energy Plan (PEN), the aim of the company became that of reducing Enel's dependence on hydrocarbons
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ex ...
, which was to be achieved with the use of other energy sources, including hydro, geothermal, coal, reducing waste, and, in particular, the use of nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
.
Several new plants were built in the course of the decade. In the early 1970s, the construction of the nuclear power station Caorso
Caorso ( Piacentino: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Piacenza in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about east of Piacenza.
Caorso borders the following municipalities: Caselle Landi, ...
(Emilia-Romagna), the first major nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...
in Italy (to generate 840-860 MW), began. The station became operational in 1978. Between 1972 and 1978, the hydroelectric plant of Taloro was built in the province of Nuoro
Nuoro ( or less correctly ; sc, Nùgoro ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in central-eastern Sardinia, Italy, situated on the slopes of the Monte Ortobene. It is the capital of the province of Nuoro. With a population of 36,347 (2011), ...
(Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
). In 1973, the hydroelectric plant of San Fiorano
San Fiorano ( Lodigiano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lodi in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about southeast of Lodi. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,724 and an area of ...
became operational. In 1977, a thermoelectric power plant opened in Torre del Sale, near Piombino
Piombino is an Italian town and ''comune'' of about 35,000 inhabitants in the province of Livorno (Tuscany). It lies on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma.
Ove ...
(Tuscany). At the end of the 1970s, the construction of the thermal power plant of Porto Tolle
Porto Tolle is a town in the province of Rovigo, Veneto, northern Italy.
Twin towns
Porto Tolle is twinned with:
* Medulin, Croatia, since 2010
* Trecate
Trecate is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region ...
(Veneto
Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona.
Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...
) began, whose first completed section became active in 1980.
Between 1971 and 1977, the pilot 1000 kV transmission facilities in Suvereto
Suvereto is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Livorno in the Italian region Tuscany, located about southwest of Florence and about southeast of Livorno.
Government
;''Frazioni ''
The municipality is formed by the municipal seat o ...
(Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze'').
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...
) were tested.
In 1974, the construction of the Adriatic high voltage electric backbone was completed.
Between 1973 and 1977, wells for the production of geothermal energy were drilled in Torre Alfina, in the province of Viterbo
Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo.
It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history. ...
(Lazio
it, Laziale
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).
The dam of Alto Gesso (Piedmont
it, Piemontese
, population_note =
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) was completed in 1982 as part of the hydroelectric power station Luigi Einaudi "Entracque".
The 1980s were characterised by the construction of new plants and the testing of alternative forms of energy, the Italian nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
phase-out, as well as a gradual reduction of reliance on oil, which decreased from 75.3% in 1973 to 58.5% in 1985. Several large power plants became active during this period. Among these, the fossil fuel power plant
A fossil fuel power station is a thermal power station which burns a fossil fuel, such as coal or natural gas, to produce electricity. Fossil fuel power stations have machinery to convert the heat energy of combustion into mechanical energy, wh ...
of Fiumesanto (Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
) in 1983–84; the pumped-storage hydroelectricity
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential ...
power station of Edolo
Edolo ( Camunian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, Lombardy, northern Italy, located in the upper Camonica valley. Edolo is neighbour to the comuni of Corteno Golgi, Incudine, Lovero, Malonno, Monno, Ponte di Legno, Saviore ...
(Lombardy
Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
) in 1984–85, one of the biggest of its kind in Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
; and the coal power plant
A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide, there are about 8,500 coal-fired power stations totaling over 2,000 gigawatts capacity. They generate about a th ...
of Torrevaldiagia Nord (Lazio
it, Laziale
, population_note =
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, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
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, demographics1_title2 ...
) in 1984.
In 1981, with the help of the European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
, Enel built the first large scale compact linear Fresnel reflector concentrated solar power plant
Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated when ...
, the 1 MWe
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...
Eurelios power station in Adrano
Adrano (, scn, Ddirnò), ancient ''Adranon'', is a town and in the Metropolitan City of Catania on the east coast of Sicily.
It is situated around northwest of Catania, which was also the capital of the province to which Adrano belonged, no ...
(Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
). The plant was shut down in 1987.
In 1984, the photovoltaic power station
A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building- ...
of Vulcano
Vulcano ( scn, Vurcanu) or Vulcan is a small volcanic island belonging to Italy in the Tyrrhenian Sea, about north of Sicily and located at the southernmost end of the seven Aeolian Islands. The island is known for its volcanic activity and c ...
(Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
) became active. In the same year, the first wind farm
A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used Wind power, to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundre ...
of the country became operational in Alta Nurra (Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
).
During 1985, the national center for the dispatch and control of the electricity network was gradually transferred from the center of Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
to Settebagni, and made a part of a bigger European network for the synchronisation of electricity production.
In 1986, Enel had its first positive balance, with a profit of 14.1 billion Italian lira
The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...
s.
In 1987, in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nuc ...
, the first referendum on nuclear power took place and was won by those opposed to nuclear power. This result marked the end of nuclear power in Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, the closing and suspension of all construction of nuclear power stations, and the establishment of a new national energy plan. The Caorso Nuclear Power Plant
Caorso Nuclear Power Plant was a nuclear power plant at Caorso in Italy. It featured a single Boiling Water Reactor, a BWR 4 with a Mark II-Containment from General Electric, with an electrical net output of 860 MW, used low-enriched uranium as ...
in Emilia-Romagna
egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title ...
, which had been inactive since 1986 due to refuelling, was never reactivated and was finally closed in 1990. The Enrico Fermi Nuclear Power Plant
The Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant on the shore of Lake Erie near Monroe, in Frenchtown Charter Township, Michigan on approximately . All units of the plant are operated by the DTE Energy Electric Company and ow ...
in Piedmont
it, Piemontese
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
was deactivated in 1987 and shut down in 1990. The construction work on the Montalto di Castro Nuclear Power Station
The Montalto di Castro nuclear power station was a nuclear power plant at Montalto di Castro in Italy. Consisting of two BWR units each of 982 MWe, it was approaching completion in 1988 when the Italian government decided to close all nuclear pla ...
, started in 1982, was interrupted in 1988. The station was converted the following year into a multi-fuel plant. The Latina Nuclear Power Plant
Latina Nuclear Power Plant is a former nuclear power plant at Latina, Lazio, Italy. Consisting of one 153 MWe Magnox reactor, it operated from 1963 until 1987. A second reactor, the experimental CIRENE design, began construction at Latina i ...
was shut down in 1988. The Garigliano Nuclear Power Plant
Garigliano Nuclear Power Plant was a nuclear power plant located at Sessa Aurunca (Campania), in southern Italy. It was named after the river Garigliano.
Consisting of one 150MWe BWR from General Electric, it operated from 1964 until 1982. Fi ...
had been shut down since 1978.
In 1988, the new National Energy Plan (PEN) established its key objectives: increased energy efficiency, environmental protection, the exploitation of national resources, the diversification of sources of supply from abroad, and the overall competitiveness of the production system.
1990–present: Liberalisation and privatisation
Between 1990 and 2000, the Italian electricity market was progressively liberalized. In 1991, Law No. 9/1991 sanctioned a first partial liberalisation of the production of electricity generated from conventional sources and renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
sources; companies were allowed to produce electricity for their own use with an obligation to hand over the excess amount to Enel. In July 1992, the Amato I Cabinet
The Amato I Cabinet was the 49th cabinet of the Italian Republic, and the first cabinet of the XI Legislature. It held office from 28 June 1992 until 28 April 1993, a total of 304 days, or 10 months.
The cabinet obtained the confidence of the Sen ...
turned Enel into a joint-stock company
A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certificates ...
with the Treasury
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...
as the sole shareholder.
In 1999, the D'Alema I Cabinet
The first D'Alema government was the government of Italy from 21 October 1998 to 22 December 1999.
The first Prodi government fell in 1998 when the Communist Refoundation Party withdrew its support to Prodi. This led to the formation of a new gov ...
issued Legislative Decree no. 79 of 16 March 1999 (known as the Bersani Decree) to liberalise the electricity sector. This opened up the possibility for other actors to operate in the energy market. Enel—which had so far been the only actor in the production, distribution, and sale of electricity in Italy—had now to change its corporate structure by distinguishing the three phases and constituting itself as three different companies: Enel Produzione, Enel Distribuzione, and Terna, respectively, for energy production, distribution, and transmission. Moreover, Enel could produce only 50% of the national production according to the new law. That same year, 31.7% of the company, in its new structure, was privatised. Following privatization, Enel was put on the stock market; its shares were listed on the Italian Stock Exchange
Borsa Italiana, based in Milan, is the Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries and supervising disclosures for listed companies.italy24.ils ...
with a value of €4.3 per share; the total number was 4,183 million shares for a total value of 18 billion.
In this period, Enel was involved in several new projects. In 1993, the company built the Serre photovoltaic plant. At the time, this was largest of its kind in Europe with an installed capacity of 3.3 megawatts. In 1997, Enel, Orange S.A.
Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 59,000 elsewhere. In 2015, ...
, and Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG (; short form often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a German telecommunications company that is headquartered in Bonn and is the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. Deutsche Telekom was ...
funded Wind Telecomunicazioni as a joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
, a mobile and fixed telecom operator. In 2000, Enel launched a project to connect Italy's and Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
's power grids by laying a 160 km underwater power line, capable of carrying 600 megawatts, to connect Otranto
Otranto (, , ; scn, label= Salentino, Oṭṛàntu; el, label=Griko, Δερεντό, Derentò; grc, Ὑδροῦς, translit=Hudroûs; la, Hydruntum) is a coastal town, port and ''comune'' in the province of Lecce (Apulia, Italy), in a fertil ...
(Apulia
it, Pugliese
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographic ...
) with the Greek city of Aetos. The project, completed in 2002, had a total cost of 339 million.
During the 2000s, the company worked to reduce the environmental impact of the production of energy and on a progressive internationalization of Enel through a number of mergers and acquisitions. In 2000, Enel signed an agreement with the Italian Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economic Development in which the company committed to reduce carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...
emissions by 13.5% before 2002, and by 20% before 2006. That year, Enel acquired CHI Energy, a renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
producer operating in the US and Canadian markets, for $170 million. In the following years, Enel continued investing in renewable energy and clean technologies.
In 2004, the company was included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index
The Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) launched in 1999, are a family of indices evaluating the sustainability performance of thousands of companies trading publicly, operated under a strategic partnership between S&P Dow Jones Indices and Ro ...
, a stock market index that evaluates the financial performance of companies based on economic, environmental, and social performance.
In 2008, Enel formed Enel Green Power
Enel Green Power S.p.A. is an Italian multinational renewable energy corporation, headquartered in Rome.
The company was formed as a subsidiary of the power generation firm Enel in December 2008. It is present with assets in operation or under ...
, a company dedicated to developing and managing the production of power from renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
. In 2009, Enel launched the Archilede project, a new urban lighting system chosen by 1600 municipalities. This new intelligent lighting technology resulted in approximately 26 GWh per year of energy saving, and reduced carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...
emissions by 18,000 tons per year. That same year, the company opened a new photovoltaic power station
A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building- ...
in the Park of Villa di Pratolino
The Villa di Pratolino was a Renaissance patrician villa in Vaglia, Tuscany, Italy. It was mostly demolished in 1822. Its remains are now part of the Villa Demidoff, 12 km north of Florence, reached from the main road to Bologna.
History
Th ...
, in Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
. The project - called "Diamante" – was to build a plant capable of storing, as hydrogen, enough of the solar energy accumulated during the day to meet nighttime requirements. In 2010, the Archimede combined cycle power plant
Archimede combined cycle power plant (also known as Centrale a ciclo combinato Archimede, once Centrale Enel Priolo Gargallo) is an integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) power generation plant at Priolo Gargallo near Syracuse in Sicily, Italy. ...
became operational at Priolo Gargallo
Priolo Gargallo ( Sicilian: ''Priolu'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily (southern Italy). It is about southeast of Palermo and about northwest of Syracuse.
The name Priolo Gargallo comes from the nobleman Mar ...
, near Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
in Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
. This was the first thermal solar field to use molten salt
Molten salt is salt which is solid at standard temperature and pressure but enters the liquid phase due to elevated temperature. Regular table salt has a melting point of 801 °C (1474°F) and a heat of fusion of 520 J/g.[< ...]
–technology integrated with a combined cycle
A combined cycle power plant is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy. On land, when used to make electricity the most common type is called a combined cycle gas turb ...
gas facility.
Enel had several acquisitions and divestments in this period. In 2001, the company won the tender offer for the purchase of Viesgo—a subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of Endesa
Endesa, S.A. (, originally an initialism for ''Empresa Nacional de Electricidad, S.A''.) is a Spanish multinational electric utility company, the largest in the country. The firm, a majority-owned subsidiary of the Italian utility company Enel, ...
—a company active on the Spanish market in the production and distribution of electricity, with a net installed capacity of 2400 megawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units, International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), ...
s.
In 2002, Enel divested Eurogen SpA, Elettrogen SpA, and Interpower SpA in compliance with the Bersani Decree provisions on the liberalization of electricity production.
In 2001, Enel acquired Infostrada—previously a subsidiary of Vodafone
Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
, at a cost of 7.25 billion euros. Infostrada was later merged with Wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...
, with 17 million customers. In 2005, Enel assigned 62.75% ownership of Wind to Weather Investments S.a.r.l., a company belonging to the Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris
Naguib Onsi Sawiris (or Sawires; ar, نجيب اُنسى ساويرس ; ; born 15 June 1954) is an Egyptian billionaire businessman. Sawiris is chairman of Weather Investments's parent company, and the former chairman and CEO of Orascom Tele ...
, at the time CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of Global Telecom Holding
Global Telecom Holding S.A.E. (GTH; formerly Orascom Telecom Holding) is a holding company based in Amsterdam, and a subsidiary of the multinational telecommunications services company VEON. GTH previously owned mobile network operators in multip ...
(the remaining 37.25% was divested in 2006).
In 2008 and 2009, Enel Stoccaggi and Enel Rete Gas were sold to investors, mainly Primo Fondo Italiano per le Infrastrutture
Fondi Italiani per le Infrastrutture SGR S.p.A. or, in short form, F2i SGR S.p.A., is Italy's largest independent infrastructure fund manager, with assets under management of approximately €5 billion. It currently manages three funds: F2i Secon ...
. In 2011, Enel opened the first pilot carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...
–capture facility in Italy, in the area of Brindisi
Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
Histo ...
, in the existing power plant ENEL Federico II. That year, Enel Distribuzione
Enel S.p.A. is an Italian Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. Enel, which originally stood for Ente nazionale per l'energia elettrica (National Electricity Board), was first established ...
built its first Smart grid
A smart grid is an electrical grid which includes a variety of operation and energy measures including:
*Advanced metering infrastructure (of which smart meters are a generic name for any utility side device even if it is more capable e.g. a f ...
in Isernia
Isernia () or, in Pliny and later writers, ''Eserninus'', or in the Antonine Itinerary, ''Serni''. is a town and ''comune'' in the southern Italian region of Molise, and the capital of province of Isernia.
Geography
Situated on a rocky crest ri ...
, a grid capable of effectively adjusting the two-way flow of electricity generated from renewable sources. The total investment for this project was 10 million.
Also in 2011, Enel became part of the United Nations Global Compact
The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to encourage businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is a princ ...
, a United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
initiative to encourage businesses to adopt sustainable policies worldwide, and signed a cooperation framework agreement with the World Food Programme
The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен ...
, to fight against world hunger and climate change. The cost of the project was 8 million, which included the production and distribution of high-efficiency cooking stoves, the installation of photovoltaic systems
A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and co ...
in the all WFP logistical premises, and giving support to humanitarian interventions. In the same year, the company was added to the FTSE4Good Index of the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
which measures businesses' behaviour in terms of environmental sustainability, relationships with stakeholders, human rights, the quality of working conditions, and fighting against corruption.
In 2012, Enel sold the remaining 5.1% of Terna in its possession, thus exiting completely from the high-voltage market. In 2013, Enel signed an agreement, in Sochi
Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...
, for the sale of 40% of Arctic Russia, a joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
with Eni
Eni S.p.A. () is an Italian multinational energy company headquartered in Rome. Considered one of the seven "supermajor" oil companies in the world, it has operations in 69 countries with a market capitalization of US$54.08 billion, as of 11 Ap ...
, which in turn controlled 49% of SeverEnergia, for $1.8 billion. In May 2014, Maria Patrizia Grieco was elected president of the board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
; and Francesco Starace
Francesco Starace (Italian pronunciation: staˈratʃe born 1955) is an Italian business executive and the CEO and general manager of Enel Group.
Life
In 1980 he graduated in Nuclear Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan.
From 19 ...
was appointed CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
.
The company's main objectives were set to be the reorganisation of activities in Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
and Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
and debt reduction. In 2014, Enel—together with Endesa
Endesa, S.A. (, originally an initialism for ''Empresa Nacional de Electricidad, S.A''.) is a Spanish multinational electric utility company, the largest in the country. The firm, a majority-owned subsidiary of the Italian utility company Enel, ...
, Accelerace, and FundingBox—initiated the INCENSe program (Internet Cleantech Enablers Spark), which was co-funded by the European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
, for the promotion of technological innovation in renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
, and was joined by over 250 start-ups from 30 countries in 2015. In 2014 and 2015, Enel was included in the STOXX Global ESG Governance Leaders index, an index that measures a company's environmental, social, and governance practices.
Enel took part in Expo 2015
Expo 2015 was a World Expo hosted by Milan, Italy. It opened on May 1 at 10:00 CEST and closed on October 31. Milan hosted an exposition for the second time; the first was the 1906 Milan International.
The Bureau International des Expositi ...
in Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
as an '' Official Global Partner''.
With a 29 million investment, as well as building its own pavilion, Enel built a Smart City
A smart city is a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data. Information gained from that data is used to manage assets, resources and services efficiently; in return ...
over the entire Expo area, simulating a city of 100,000 inhabitants with a total energy consumption of 1 GWh per day.
The Smart City comprised a smart grid for the distribution of electricity, an operations center for the monitoring and management of the smart grid, an information system that allowed visitors to view in real-time the electricity consumption in each pavilion, charging stations
A charging station, also known as a charge point or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), is a piece of equipment that supplies electrical power for charging plug-in electric vehicles (including electric cars, electric trucks, electric b ...
for electric vehicles
An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...
, and LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...
lighting of the entire exhibition site.
During 2016–2018, Enel carried out a series of operations aimed at digitising and innovating the Group, with particular attention to sustainability. In January 2016, Enel launched the “Open Power” brand, which presented the company with a new visual identity and a new logo. The concept of “openness” became the driver of the Group’s operative and communicative strategy. In June 2016, Enel presented the Enel Open Meter, the 2.0 smart meter designed to replace first-generation electronic meters. Open Meter was designed by Italian designer and architect Michele De Lucchi. In July 2016, Enel launched an Innovation Hub in Tel Aviv to scout 20 start-ups and foster collaboration, while offering a personalized support programme. In December 2016, Open Fiber completed the acquisition of Metroweb Italia for €714 million.
In March 2017, Enel inaugurated the Innovation Hub at University of California, Berkeley, an initiative for start-up scouting and collaboration development. In April 2017, in joint venture with Dutch Infrastructure Fund, the company launched the largest “ready-to-build” solar PV project in Australia. In May 2017, Enel launched E-solutions, a new global business line to explore new technologies, as well as to develop innovative products and digital solutions. In July 2017, Enel joined Formula E for the first zero-emission event in the championship’s history in New York. In September 2017, Enel ranked 20th in Fortune’s 2017 “Change the World” list and became one of the top 50 companies in the world – and the only Italian company – to have a positive social impact through business activities. In the same month, Enel and ENAP inaugurated Cerro Pabellón, the first geothermal power plant in South America and the first in the world to be built at 4,500 meters above sea level.
In October 2017, the company inaugurated an Innovation Hub in Russia in collaboration with the technological hub of Skolkovo. In the same month, Enel was included in the Top 20 of Forbes World’s Best Employers List 2017 and was confirmed by the non-profit global platform CDP as a global leader in the fight against climate change. In November 2017, Enel presented E-Mobility Revolution, a plan which seeks to install 7000 recharging stations for electric vehicles by 2020. In November 2017, Enel presented the 2018-2020 strategic plan, which was characterised by a focus on digitization and new offers to customers. In December 2017, Enel and Audi signed an agreement to develop electric mobility services. In the same month, the Group launched the Enel X brand, dedicated to the development of innovative products and digital solutions in areas where energy shows the greatest potential for transformation.
In January 2018, Enel launched a new green bond in Europe. The issue amounted to a total of €1250 million. In January 2018, Enel was confirmed for the tenth time in the ECPI Sustainability Index series. In February 2018, it received the 2018 Ethical Boardroom Corporate Governance award for sustainability and corporate governance standards. In February 2018, Enel became title sponsor of the FIM MotoE World Cup, as well as Sustainable Power Partner of the MotoGP. In March 2018, it invested $170 million in the construction of Peru’s largest solar PV plant. In May 2018, Enel became a partner of the Osmose project for the development of integrated systems and services in the renewable energy industry. In the same month, the company inaugurated Global Thermal Generation Innovation Hub&Lab in Pisa, a space for the development of innovative technologies of interest to thermal generation. In May 2018, Enel won the final round of the tender offer for the acquisition of Eletropaulo.
At the end of March 2019, Enel became the most valuable company on the Italian Stock Exchange, with a capitalisation of over €67 billion. On 23 September, the company was included in the STOXX Europe 50 index. That same year, Enel's CEO Francesco Starace was awarded the "Manager Utility Energia 2019" prize by the Management delle Utilities e delle Infrastrutture (MUI) Italian magazine.
In April 2022, Enel X Way was launched. It is the new business line of the Group and aims to accelerate the development of electric mobility and combine decarbonization, digitalization and electrification. The initiative was presented by CEO Elisabetta Ripa at Rome's Formula E Grand Prix.
Controversies
Osage Wind LLC
Osage Wind dug foundations for wind turbines, crushed the rock and returned the dust to the earth.
On 11 November 2014, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma filed suit against Enel's subsidiary Osage Wind LLC, an 84-turbine industrial wind project in Osage County, Okla. In the suit, the United States alleges that Enel and Osage Wind are illegally converting minerals owned by the Osage Nation
The Osage Nation ( ) ( Osage: 𐓁𐒻 𐓂𐒼𐒰𐓇𐒼𐒰͘ ('), "People of the Middle Waters") is a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Great Plains. The tribe developed in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 700 BC along ...
, a Native American tribe that has owned all mineral rights in the county since 1871. The suit says that Osage Wind should have obtained a permit from the Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
before mining rock and other material for the pits in which turbine bases are built. The United States asked that all excavating on the 8,500-acre site cease and that dozens of turbines that are already being erected be removed.
Osage Wind has insisted that it is not mining and needs no permit. The company says that it has already spent nearly $300 million on the project, which is being built on privately owned fee land, not land held in trust for American Indians.
Osage Wind LLC and a second and adjacent Enel wind project, Mustang Run, are also embroiled in cases pending before the Oklahoma Supreme Court in which the Osage Nation and Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County is the largest county by area in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Created in 1907 when Oklahoma was admitted as a state, the county is named for and is home to the federally recognized Osage Nation. The county is coextensive with the Os ...
, are challenging the constitutional legitimacy of permits for both projects.
, the case remained in litigation.[
]
El Salvador
Enel had to exit the El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
electricity market after a long dispute with the Government of El Salvador.
Article 109 of the Constitution of El Salvador
The current constitution of El Salvador was enacted in 1983 and amended in 2003. The 1983 constitution of El Salvador is similar to that of 1962, often incorporating verbatim passages from the earlier document. The constitution consists of 11 t ...
states that underground natural resources are the country's property and the government should not allow a foreign company to be the sole proprietor of geothermic generation. Both parties came to a settlement in 2014, but no details have been released.
Slovakia
Enel had been demanding over €94 million from the Ministry of Economy of Slovakia in compensation for lost earnings it claims to have incurred as price proposals were rejected by the Slovakian Regulatory Office for Network Industries (URSO).
Meeting with Vladimir Putin immediately prior to 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
In early 2022, Enel and acting CEO Francesco Starace
Francesco Starace (Italian pronunciation: staˈratʃe born 1955) is an Italian business executive and the CEO and general manager of Enel Group.
Life
In 1980 he graduated in Nuclear Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan.
From 19 ...
came under criticism for meeting in person with acting President of Russia
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
to discuss massive Russian investments & sanction exemptions, just over a week prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
.
Production and service capacities
Enel produces electricity from a number of energy sources including geothermal, wind power
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...
, solar power
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic e ...
, hydroelectric power
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
, thermal, and nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
.
In 2021, Enel generated a total of 232 TWh TWH or twh could refer to:
* Tai Dón language, a language of Vietnam, Laos, and China
* Tai Wo Hau station, Hong Kong; MTR station code
* Tennessee Walking Horse, a breed of horse
* Toronto Western Hospital, a hospital in Toronto, Canada
* Tun ...
of electricity, distributed 510.3 TWh, and sold 309.4 TWh.
Enel is also engaged in research and development activities for the production and transmission of electricity. These include:
*the design and implementation of "hybrid plants" that combine the use of different sources and technologies for energy storage, in order to increase the efficiency of plants.
*the development of smart grids that increase efficiency and sustainability in the distribution of electricity, with the support of the European Community.
Corporate organisation
Enel is headquartered in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and has been listed on the Milan stock exchange
Borsa Italiana, based in Milan, is the Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries and supervising disclosures for listed companies.italy24.ils ...
since 1999.
Enel and its subsidiaries produce and distribute electricity and gas in 31 countries around Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, and Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
The company employs around 67,000 people, has more than 69 million customers worldwide (63.4 million in the electricity market, and 6.0 million in the gas market) and a net installed generating capacity of 90 GW. Enel is the largest energy company in Europe by number of customers and the second by capacity, after EdF EDF may refer to:
Organisations
* Eclaireurs de France, a French Scouting association
* Education for Development Foundation, a Thai charity
* Électricité de France, a French energy company
** EDF Energy, their British subsidiary
** EDF Luminus, ...
.
The Enel Group is organised in 5 business lines:
* Enel Green Power and Thermal Generation: electricity generation.
* Global Infrastructure and Networks: transport infrastructure and energy distribution.
* Global Energy and Commodity Management: provides Enel Group companies, as well as third parties, both with goods to be used in power plants and with optimisation services for energy production and distribution.
* Enel X Global Retail: provides value-added services.
* Enel X Way: created to facilitate the transition to electricity in public and private transportation by installing charging infrastructures.
Subsidiaries
For trading on international markets, as well as for the procurement and sale of energy products including gas, Enel owns 100% of Enel Trade, which in turn owns 100% of Enel Trade Romania, Enel Trade Croatia, and Enel Trade Serbia.
Through Enel Trade, Enel also owns Nuove Energie, a company that specialises in the construction of regasification
Regasification is a process of converting liquefied natural gas (LNG) at −162 °C (−260 °F) temperature back to natural gas at atmospheric temperature. LNG gasification plants can be located on land as well as on floating barges, i.e. a Float ...
plants.
In Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, Enel owns companies that produce, distribute and resell electricity:
* 100% of Enel Energia – which deals with the sale of electricity and natural gas on the free market and to end customers. Enel Energia also owns 100% of Enel.si, a company that offers renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
solutions to end customers and franchises "Punto Enel Green Power".
* 100% of ''e-distribuzione'' – for the distribution of electricity.
* 100% of Enel Sole – which deals with public and artistic lighting.
In France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, Enel owns 5% of the French energy exchange Powernext
Powernext SA, incorporated in 2001, is a regulated market operating under AMF supervision. Based in Paris, Powernext manages the natural gas activities of the EEX Group under the PEGAS brand throughout Europe, and operates the National Registry f ...
.
In Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, through its subsidiary Enel Iberia Srl (previously known as Enel Energy Europe), Enel holds 70.1% of Endesa
Endesa, S.A. (, originally an initialism for ''Empresa Nacional de Electricidad, S.A''.) is a Spanish multinational electric utility company, the largest in the country. The firm, a majority-owned subsidiary of the Italian utility company Enel, ...
, acquired in 2009 with an initial stake of 92%.
The acquisition earned Enel the 2009 Platts Global Energy Award for "Deal of the Year".
In 2016, Endesa acquired Enel Green Power España from Enel for €1.207 billion.
Enel has been operating in Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
since 2004.
It owns 56.4% of Enel Russia
Enel Russia (Full name: Public Joint Stock Company Enel Russia; former names: OGK-5 and Enel OGK-5) is a Russian power generation company created by the reorganization of RAO UES, a former united power company of Russia. The company is register ...
(formerly OGK-5) and 49.5% of the electricity supplier RusEnergoSbyt, through Enel Investment Holding BV.
In 2013, Rosneft
PJSC Rosneft Oil Company ( stylized as ROSNEFT) is a Russian Vertical integration, integrated energy company headquartered in Moscow. Rosneft specializes in the exploration, Extraction of petroleum, extraction, production, refining, Petroleum t ...
, through NGK Itera, bought 40% of Enel's stake in Arctic Russia BV, a company which owned 19.6% of SeverEnergia. In March 2022, Enel announced it will cease operations in Russia.
In Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, Enel holds a 41% share of Empresa Distribuidora Sur SA.
In Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, Enel controls 61.99% of Empresa Electrica Panguipulli SA, 56.80% of Enel Américas SA, 61.4% of Distribución Chile SA, 57.9% of Generación Chile SA, 61.9% of Enel Green Power Chile Ltd, 61.9% of Enel Green Power del Sur SpA, and 58.0% of Gas Atacama Chile SA.
In Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
, through Enel Perù SAC, Enel controls 47.2% of Enel Distribución Perù SAA and 47.5% of Enel Generación Perú SA.
See also
* Electricity sector in Italy
Italy's total electricity consumption was 302.75 terawatt-hour (TWh) in 2020, of which 270.55 TWh (89.3%) was produced domestically and the remaining 10.7% was imported.
Italy has a high share of electricity in the total final energy consumption. ...
* Energy in Italy
Energy in Italy come mostly from fossil fuels. Among the most used resources are petroleum (mostly used for the transport sector), natural gas (used for electric energy production and heating), coal and Renewable energy in Italy, renewables. Ital ...
* List of companies of Italy
Italy is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe with the third largest nominal GDP in the Eurozone and the eighth largest in the world. As an advanced economy the country also has the sixth worldwide national wealth and it is ranked third fo ...
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Italian companies established in 1962
1999 initial public offerings
Companies based in Rome
Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Companies in the Euro Stoxx 50
Conglomerate companies of Italy
Electrical engineering companies of Italy
Energy companies established in 1962
Energy companies of Italy
Government-owned companies of Italy
Italian brands
Multinational companies headquartered in Italy
Natural gas companies of Italy
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1962
Oil and gas companies of Italy
Partly privatized companies of Italy
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Renewable energy companies of Europe
Renewable energy companies of Italy
Renewable resource companies established in 1981