In its new business plan, Enel said it would spend 28.7 billion euros ($32 billion) through 2022 as it looks to install 4,700 megawatts of new green energy per year and cut its coal-fired electricity production capacity by 61%.
The group, which is committed to phasing out coal by 2030, said it expects renewable energy to account for 60% of its total capacity in three years, driving its carbon-free production to 68% by 2022.
It said it would raise spending on its grids infrastructure by 7% to almost 12 billion euros.
As governments around the world introduce more stringent rules to meet climate targets, Europe’s power sector is undergoing significant change driven by a boom in renewable energy as costs fall and technology advances.
Enel CEO Francesco Starace said the plan targeted “opportunities in the power sector connected with the global decarbonisation and electrification trends”.
The world’s biggest private green energy group said it expected its ordinary net profit to grow by 8.3% over the period 2019-2022, raising its 2021 target to 5.8 billion euros.
In its previous plan Enel said it expected annual growth in ordinary net profit of around 11% in the period 2018-2021.
It confirmed a 70% payout ratio while promising a 7.7% growth in its minimum dividend per share (DPS) to 0.4 euro in 2022. Enel will pay investors the higher amount between the payout ratio and minimum DPS.
Net debt is expected to rise over the period to around 47.3 billion euros due to the increase in investments.
Source: reuters
