Enel Adds 5.2 GW Renewables World Over In 2022, 2 GW In North America Only

North American clean energy firm Enel North America has announced that it has built 1.98 GW of utility-scale wind, solar and battery storage capacity across the US and Canada in 2022 alone.  Worldwide, Enel built over 5.2 GW of new renewable capacity over the course of the year. Starting as an Italian utility firm, ENEL has expanded strongly to become a wordwide energy developer.

Enel said that it also added more than 550 MW of new demand response capacity and had an additional 119 MW of distributed energy storage deployed or under contract in 2022.

Enrico Viale, Head of Enel North America, stated, “As one of the leading clean energy companies in North America, we feel a sense of urgency to usher in large-scale clean power plants together with other energy solutions that advance our society toward full decarbonization. Today’s announcement of our tremendous progress in 2022 demonstrates our capability to extend the power of clean electrification to more customers than ever before.”

Enel’s renewables business, Enel Green Power, closed out 2022 with several new clean power plants in North America, including the 270 MW Blue Jay solar project in Texas and the 250 MW 25 Mile Creek wind project in Oklahoma.

Combined, the new projects in the US and Canada represent over $200 million in new property tax revenue for communities and over $210 million in landowner payments over the projects’ lifetimes.

In 2022, Enel signed 12 PPAs totalling over 630 MW, including deals with Campbell Soup Company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, McDonald’s and five members of its North America Logistics Council, and more.

To support the 25 Mile Creek wind project, Enel signed virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) in late 2022 with Verizon for a 100 MW portion of the wind farm’s output and with MathWorks for a 11 MW portion. The Clorox Company previously signed a VPPA for a 47 MW portion of the project.

In 2022, Enel announced the additions of Enel X Way, a new business line dedicated to electric mobility, and Gridspertise, a grid modernization subsidiary, in North America. Enel also revealed its intention to build a large-scale PV solar panel and cell manufacturing facility in the US and begin retail electricity sales in select deregulated US states.

At the company’s annual Capital Markets Day presentation to investors in November 2022, Enel also announced plans to invest around $5 billion in the North American market, with the aim to develop approximately 5 GW of new utility-scale renewable and battery energy storage capacity through 2025.

Moreover, Enel intends to add 155 MW of distributed energy storage and 475,000 charging ports by 2025.